You don’t see ceramic shops around much anymore. When I say ceramics, I am talking about the kind that comes out of molds as opposed to that which people form with their hands and/or on a potter’s wheel (that is usually referred to as pottery.) I have done both, but I grew up painting ceramics with my mother because in those days there were ceramic shops on the Army bases we lived on.

Rigel: So, did you hear about Betelgeuse?
Vega: Oh my, yes! It’s all over the galaxy.
Algol: What is?
Vega: You haven’t heard?
Rigel (rolling eyes in derision and disbelief): Where in the Milky Way have you been? Everyone’s talking about it. I heard Bellatrix telling Arcturas that Canopus said that Alnitak said …
Algol: Enough already! OK, OK, OK. So, I don’t know what you are talking about. I get it. I’m uncool.
Vega: Puh-lease. You? The triplet “Demon Star” not cool. Oh, you are definitely cool. But, in the know? No.

A growing body of research supports spinal manipulation:

After an extensive study of all available care for low back problems, the federal Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (now the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality) recommended that low back pain sufferers choose the most conservative care first. And it recommended spinal manipulation as the only safe and effective, drugless form of initial professional treatment for acute low back problems in adults.

All of us have been touched by the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps and New Deal whether we realize it or not. As an elementary student, I attended a W.P.A.-built school, Corryton Elementary, and swam at the C.C.C.-built Big Ridge State Park beach. We camped and hiked through the erosion-preventing New Deal era forests and park campgrounds. During the Great Depression, Union County was effected greatly by programs like the C.C.C.. The Corps' reach put men, desperately in need of jobs, to work and helped to shape the physical landscape of the county.

My mother would have been 92 had she lived until January 16th of this year. Our mother/son relationship had its ups and downs, and of course, as Proverbs 22:15 (KJV) says, “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.”

Originally, I was going to use the title “Guiding Lights,” but I thought it sounded too much like one of the daytime dramas. That being said, this article does have some driving drama in it.

My first driving drama happened in my early 20s. I was heading to work at Baptist Hospital. Thankfully it was a Saturday morning, which meant lighter traffic on I-75.

Do you get the idea that I like pie? I certainly do. My sweet tooth is a mile wide and beyond belief deep. I just plain like pie!

This is another of those recipes that would have been hard to make back in the day. Wouldn't the cooks of yesteryear liked to have had Cool Whip? Didn't happen. There was no Fridgidaire Refrigerator to keep it in. Hey, we didn't even have electricity. I do now , so here we go.

My daughter Anne and I were reminiscing today about a friend of hers that we made a keeping box for. Wilma Hubbard has been gone about 20 years but she lives on in our memories. Anne worked with her at Union Knitwear in 1991-1992 when that sewing factory was located in the big building on the right on Durham just after you turned off Maynardville Highway. That was before the building burned and Union Knitwear moved further down the street.

Have you ever read The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien? No? I’ll wait here while you go do that.

Back already? My, you are a fast reader. OK, so now you know about the Ents. If you cheated and didn’t go do the reading, I’ll fill you in. Tolkien created beings called Ents as a part of his vast, sprawling universe. The Ents were essentially walking, talking, fully sentient trees. They were huge, lumbering, wise, and wholly terrifying. They made for powerful allies and dreaded enemies. They were good, but they were not to be messed with.

When our family first moved to Tennessee in 1982, we wanted to see and experience as much as we could in the area—the more inexpensive, the better. One place that caught our attention was Red Clay State Historic Park. Like all of Tennessee’s parks, this one has no admission.