The American College of Physicians (ACP) recommends that doctors avoid prescribing drugs, especially narcotics, for patients with acute or subacute low back pain. Patients should be treated first with non-pharmaceutical therapies, such as superficial heat, massage, acupuncture, or spinal manipulation.

I like stuffed cabbage, but it is a chore to make. This soup has a taste close to that and it's a lot easier to make. This recipe reminds me of Shoney's Cabbage Soup

I have made bean soup with just about every cut of pork. This was my first attempt with smoked pork sausage. It is great. One advantage is that I don't have to scrounge up some ham for my next batch of soup. I usually have a hunk of smoked sausage in the freezer.

Maynardville Elementary has announced their 4-H Poster Contest Winners.
For 4th grade the first place winner is Kenny Greene.
For 5th grade, Savannah Weaver took first place. In second place is Emmie Hardin and in third place, McKinley Wyrick.
In order for a poster to qualify the students must promote 4-H on the poster and include the 4-H emblem as specified by the national 4-H guidelines.

Patients with improper back position have movement control impairment. They often have difficulties in controlling the position of their back when sitting down, standing or doing back bending. Impaired movement control is often caused by an earlier episode of back pain and may result in chronic lower back pain. The situation is problematic because patients don’t realize that their incorrect back position is provoking pain.

I recently received an email with the phrase, “It’s weird being the same age as old people.”

My father had three full sisters who lived to maturity—Duskie, Fleetie and Vallie. One of them was once talking about their names. One sister said, “They gave Frank [my dad], Fred and Faustine normal names.” Another sister replied, “Well, Mother sure whopped it to us!” My uncle replied, “Who ever heard of a man named Purse?”

Most ice cream sauces make only about a cup. This one makes enough for you and the kids to enjoy the treat. It is not hard to make. You have the ingredients in your pantry. Enjoy.

Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
Maybe some day
We'll be celebrating you
As president of this great land.

The Union County High School Lady Patriots Wrestling Team competed and won both the East Region Duals and the Traditional Tournament.

On February 1, 2021, District Attorney General Jared Effler joined MacKenzie Adkins and Tracie Davis from the Campbell, Claiborne and Union County Children's Centers in presenting their facility dog, Orville, with his new badge. Orville joined the Children's Center this past October and has already proven himself to be an invaluable member of the team responsible for serving abused and neglected children. Orville reduces the stress and anxiety of child victims by accompanying them throughout the investigation and prosecution of their case.

Many patients live with low back pain that radiates to the buttock, groin, thigh, and even knees. The challenge for patients, and often their doctors, is determining the origin of the pain—the hip, the spine, or both. A new article published in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons outlines the identical symptoms associated with hip and spine pain and discusses the diagnostic steps and tests required to treat them appropriately.

Why Work?

The Union County Public School System lost one of its very best teachers to retirement this year. Not only was Ms. Kerrie Scruggs a wonderful educator, she was a caring person and good friend. Ms. Kerrie’s husband Steve wrote a book, and my fellow Gideon brother gave me a copy. The book explained why Steve’s father always ate a good lunch at work. I’ll return to that thought shortly.

We all know and love the cheese dip made with Velveeta cheese. There are only three ingredients in that dip. This recipe is longer, but you are more apt to have all the ingredients in your pantry and fridge. Be sure to add the cinnamon. That spice goes especially well with chili powder, Three cups is a lot of dip, but it will go fast.

CHINESE NEW YEAR
FEBRUARY 12, 2021

Better than last year;
It's put out to pasture.
For good fortune and fun,
Try two thousand twenty-one.

Happy Chinese New Year, y'all!

At the regular January meeting of the Union County Board of Education, Dr. Jimmy Carter announced that the school system is applying to be a distribution site for COVID-19 vaccine in order to vaccinate school employees according to the established age groups.

Last year I wrote my first article for Historic Union News on “Union County Health Council Working Hard to Improve Lives in Our Community.” Of course, the Coronavirus derailed so many things including Health Council meetings — although the Health Department continued its important work of keeping services available to our community while also striving to educate and address the pandemic.
With the new year, the Health Council is looking for ways to be more effective in making life better in our community.

New research shows that people with chronic low back pain have better results from yoga and physical therapy compared to reading evidence-based self-help materials. While this finding was consistent across many patient characteristics, a much larger effect was observed among those already taking pain medication to treat their condition and those who did not fear that exercise would make their back pain worse.

Dr. John C. Osborn was only 18 months old when his father started dental school, so in a sense, he’s been through it twice.
He grew up in Asheville, North Carolina, but his mother’s family was from Knoxville, so there were plenty of visits to this part of the country.
At 15, Osborn started working in his father’s lab, pouring moldings and such, so it was always front and center as a career path choice. After graduating from high school he moved to Chattanooga for college, then on to Nashville for dental school.

An ecologist named Joseph Grinnell way back in 1936 once asked how it was that oak trees could colonize the tops of hills and ridges. Acorns are too heavy for wind to disperse them, and gravity tends to make them travel downhill rather than up. He concluded that animals must be responsible for getting acorns to high places.
Many animals use acorns as a valuable winter food source. Deer, turkey, wild pigs, and bears are heavy users, but an eaten acorn cannot germinate and make a tree.

Matthew 16:19 - And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Please be aware it is not my intent to be divisive, to exclude anyone or any church denomination. The Gospel itself will take care of that in due time. However, I don’t think I could pick a better chapter than Matthew Chapter 16 to jump flat-footed right in the middle of the fray regarding divisions within the Christian church over doctrinal differences.

This is the fifth and last of a series of articles on the history of Wood Dale School in Union County, Tennessee.
In the first article I shared information about Wood Dale School from 1900 through the depression years to 1940 as related in Our Union County Heritage: A Historical and Biographical Album of Union County—People, Places, Events by Kathleen George Graves and Winnie Palmer McDonald (© 1978 Josten’s); Ms. Bonnie Heiskell Peter’s book Union County Schoolday Memories: A Pictorial History of Union County Elementary Schools From the mid-1800’s to the 1960s (© 1999); and from available school registers on file at the Union County Board of Education.

With so much national attention on voting procedures and outcomes, I felt it timely to have a conversation with Deborah Viles, Administrator of Elections for the Union County Election Commission. She shares that the turnout of this election was the biggest turnout ever recorded in Union County, Tennessee. But before we get into the nitty-gritty of election regulations and procedures, let me introduce you to the woman responsible for seeing that our electoral process is carried out appropriately, because knowing and trusting her is key to trusting the process.

I had intended this week to share with you more of my dental adventures. Fortunately, perhaps, that particular inspiration has now left me. Usually, I end my articles with a bit of email “wisdom”, but for this particular article I will use one to begin:

There’s nothing scarier than that split second
when you lost your balance in the shower and you think,
“They are going to find me naked.”

With all the worrisome events that have happened recently, I would ask that you pause and think about something. When you think of beauty, I assume that like me you envision things like a colorful sunrise, waterfalls, snow draped trees, and such. But I am sitting here having a tough time verbally defining it. It's an odd thing really. It does not produce any tangible product. It can't be bought or sold, and yet all humans value it and are drawn to natural beauty. Why?