It’s nice to think that plants produce fruit for our pleasure and that of other creatures. They do want us to eat them but have an ulterior motive of getting their seeds dispersed to other areas.

I recently read a report that said in the past five decades, North America’s bird population has decreased by over 3 billion individuals. That’s Billion with a capital “B.” And that is only in North America. The reports are similar in Europe, South America and other parts of the world. So what happens when we no longer have chance encounters seeing unique and intriguing birds? The norm will be that the next generation won’t miss them because they weren’t ever aware of their existence. Clear as mud?

Trauma—we have all experienced trauma, both little ones like when you lose your keys and you must be at an appointment in the next few minutes, to big ones like the loss of a loved one who was close to you. We all struggle with how to deal with trauma in our lives. Children in state custody live with practically daily trauma. They are taken from their home, and no matter how dysfunctional it seems to other people, it is home. For those who left home to go to college remember the pain in the pit of your stomach when you were driving away that first day?

September is a time of heading into fall festivals, football, and homecoming for communities like Maynardville. On Friday, September20, Maynardville held its annual Homecoming Parade and football game. The parade began at 5:30pm with some beautiful floats and homecoming queen candidates tossing candy to the crowds as they cruised the streets.

Leadership Union County (LUC) proudly gained four new graduates from the local program on September 17. The students enrolled in the six-month course beginning April 2019, attending a monthly class through September. The program focuses on developing leaders to help create a unified and progressive community by identifying opportunities and challenges, developing strategies, and providing resources to achieve community goals.

Every have something bizarre happen because the timing was just right?

I did when I was 16 years old.

Mom and I were eating at my grandparents’ house. Mamaw had fixed one of my favorite desserts, cherry pie. I remember raking in a big delicious bite. Naturally, I swallowed, or better yet, I tried to swallow.

You see, my bite of cherry pie had just reached what I call the point of no return in my throat. You know what I’m talking about. That’s where gravity has taken over and your food is too far down your esophagus to get it back up.

Chiropractors may utilize various therapies for treating sacroiliac (SI) joint pain, with the goals of reducing the patient’s pain, improving function, and providing rehabilitation so the pain is less likely to return. Pain is caused by either too much or too little movement of the sacroiliac joint. As a result, muscles surrounding the joint may benefit from chiropractic techniques to either relax the muscles or to strengthen them.

Many of you may know the origins of the name Union County; although there are two possibilities. The first explanation is based on the "union" of land from the 5 surrounding counties: Knox, Grainger, Claiborne, Campbell and Anderson. The second is based on the area's support for remaining in the United States during the secession crises in the 1850's, the decade of formation of our county. Perhaps, it is a mixture of both.

When I was growing up, almost every meal I ate was at home or school. At home, our fare was usually pinto beans, potatoes, and corn bread with onions. One thing that without doubt developed my taste buds was Mother’s liberal use of Lay’s Clover Leaf® Brand Pure Lard.

If only once more I could go back through time and sit down to one of Mother’s meals. I would want it to be spring so we could have killed (“kilt”) lettuce, soup beans, fried taters with fresh garden peas, cornbread, and a good glass of store-bought buttermilk to wash it all down.

There are teachers and there are teachers. They come in all sizes and ages. I had one in Junior High School that I will never forget. To save her family embarrassment, I won't mention her name.

She was old, really old. Of course, that was the opinion of an eighth-grader. I don't remember ever seeing her smile. Her teaching style left a lot to be desired. I didn't help the situation either. School was always easy for me as anyone who knows me can attest. I am easily bored. That is a dangerous combination. I tried to stay under her radar.