Marlie Brock's entry for the Junior Beta Club state convention creative writing submission:
It was a rainy Monday afternoon when I heard someone knocking on my door. When I looked outside to see who was there I was surprised to see only a box on my doorstep. I knew it couldn’t have been something I had ordered because I always go and pick my stuff up from the store. I put my brave face on and decided to open it.

Do you like black-eyed peas? I never did. I remember years ago that I bought a can to see what they were like.
I have always liked green English peas and hoped the black-eyed variety were similar.
Boy, was I disappointed. I thought they had no flavor and wondered who would want to do anything with them.
I took that lonely can and tried to season it up like baked beans. That was a disaster.

In what feels like the blink of an eye, another day, another year, another decade has passed. In 2019, Union County has seen many changes, renovations and positive intentions. As 2020 proceeds, be grateful and intentional in the things you do.
At the beginning of the year, often we are swept up into the “New Year, New Me” motif. Many goals and resolutions are set for the upcoming year. The upcoming days being looked upon as a new slate. Days to start fresh with a clean outlook.

Acts 17:22 KJV: Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
I can’t believe that I have had the privilege to write for Historic Union County for over two years. Our first article was published on Dec. 12, 2017. I say “our” because were it not for the publishers of HUC, I would not have this platform to share what I have learned about life and the Bible. In truth, the publishers twisted my arm to get me to write for this paper. One of the principal publishers of this paper is the most doggedly determined person I have ever known. The co-publisher of this paper and former editor is one of the most supportive people I have ever met. To both of them, I say thank you!

The English language is said by those who are not native speakers to be one of the hardest languages to learn. I don’t find that hard to believe for a couple of reasons.
I know what a hard time I have with foreign languages. I took a year of Spanish in high school but I couldn’t order an egg in a Spanish restaurant. If I ever had a window of opportunity to learn foreign languages, it closed very early in life.

January can be a great time to fish Norris Lake. In the heart of the winter the average weight of your catch can be larger. Plus, fish often form large schools in deep water and you may catch a lot of big fish in a small area.
Another advantage of January fishing is that all the pleasure boaters are gone and fishermen will have the lake all to themselves. If it is extremely cold or nasty weather, there may not be many other fishermen on the lake either.

I’m writing this during the cold months in East Tennessee. There are no dragonflies zipping about. They tend to be more active during the warmer months.
I’ve noticed that, in addition to warm weather, dragonflies like water. As a young kid, I learned that if you go out into your yard on a hot, dry, summer day and spray water from a garden hose up into the air to form a mist, you just might attract a dragonfly or two. Try it some hot and dusty afternoon this coming August. Maybe a shimmering visitor will appear.

I don’t know the stats for our area, but on a national level, Americans are overstressed, and everyone knows this is unhealthy. The causes are familiar: fast pace of life, multi-tasking … you know the sound bites.
I’ve written in the past about studies that show that immersing yourself in natural settings can reduce stress, so I revisited the topic and found some new twists on natural stress reduction. Here are some recommendations that surfaced.

We were living in west Knoxville the year the city recorded the coldest temperature in the lower 48. That was January 21/22, 1985. It had snowed on Sunday morning—hard. So hard that church was cancelled. My husband, being the adventurous soul that he was, went out and checked on some of our church’s shut-ins. He barely made it back home and he swears it was because he was driving an old VW Beetle. I was just glad when he was safely home.

I have often wondered if this tradition is a southern thing.
When I was growing up, New Year’s Day was rather frustrating. All day long, I would be warned: “If you do that today, you’ll be doing it all year long!”
Mamaw Jo was so adamant about it, that doing laundry was almost forbidden on New Year’s Day.
One time I was brave and asked Mamaw, “Why are you so convinced about not doing laundry on that day?”
Her answer wasn’t what I expected. “I had a friend who washed clothes on New Year’s Day. Her husband got sick and she washed his clothes all year long!”