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I’ve spent some time traveling down rows of tobacco. In freshly plowed ground, I’ve struggled to keep my balance as I lugged a pressure sprayer filled with insecticide. At other times, I’ve walked, almost leisurely, with a hoe in my hands as I looked for stubborn weeds or grass. Then, again,…

As this Fourth of July rolls around, our great country has a storied history upon which we may reflect — the bravery of the first settlers, among them the Pilgrims; the genius of the founding fathers; and so many men and women who have died for the cause of freedom.

There’s nothing quite like cracking open an old journal. Especially when it belongs to you — and suddenly being transported back to the emotional rollercoaster of your high school and college years. This all started innocently enough. I was putting away yet another present-day journal, fille…

A few years back, I presented the opportunity for my readers to send in some of the favorite sayings they had heard over the years. The response I received was impressive. I promised it would not be my last column on sayings. After giving the subject some thought you might want to send in on…

Our middle child recently graduated from college. And until her job starts and her new place is ready, she and all her belongings are back home with us. Our entire garage is filled to the brim with her collection of mismatched college furnishings, hand-me down kitchen appliances and tubs and…

If you’re a Generation X parent with Gen Z kids in their 20s, you’re likely familiar with this particular emotional rollercoaster: one minute you’re marveling at their confidence and clarity, and the next you’re yelling, “I don’t CARE if I didn’t remind you for the fourth time — TAKE OUT THE…

I had the privilege of making the Red Rock Ride a few weeks back. It was the culmination of several serendipitous events over many years. All was set in motion in organic chemistry class at the University of Tennessee in around 1972. On a spring day, my lab partner introduced himself. He was…

I make the best mashed potatoes. No, seriously, they are better than any mashed potatoes you’ve ever had. Better than even your Mama’s!

Ok, I know, officially, the first day of summer is another two weeks, or so, away. But for me, summer has arrived. Already a bunch of summer time things are going on. Late rains postponed this year’s spring hay crop. Now farmers are dodging rain showers as they try get the hay crop in.

Since turning 50, I’ve reached a certain level of existential exhaustion where I’m no longer interested in pretending I like things just because I’m “supposedâ€� to like them. If that means I lose cool points, so be it. Frankly, I never knew where to redeem those anyway. So let’s just get it a…

It’s that time of year again.

Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formally known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. men and women who died in military service. According to Wikipedia, Decoration Day was first observed on May 30, 1868. The alternative name of Memorial D…

I was on my weekly check-in call with Jacob asking the usual.

Sometime in the late 1960s or early 1970s (I can’t remember the exact date), my grandfather, D.T. McCall, and I went on a mission to purchase a herd bull at Coley Hereford Farm’s annual production sale in Lafayette, Tennessee. (You may want to go back and read last week’s column for details …

Mom and Dad,

It is sad to say country stores are becoming a thing of the past. There are still some around, but they are becoming few and far between. And the more modern versions are not like they used to be, only an attempt at what once was.

So the other day I got into a fight with AI. You know the all-knowing, all powerful computer program that is going to take over our world.

Besides the charging block used for cell phones, iPads, and watches, it’s probably the most powerful object in households. No matter what you call it —clicker, channel changer, or thingie, the television remote controls more than the televisions. It controls the mood. And since most of us ha…

It’s Sunday. The house is quiet. And it’s clean.

Back in my boyhood days, the chicken house was a center of activity in The Brim Hollow. Actually, it was one building that accommodated two different houses — the chicken house and the hen house. Rectangular in shape, it featured a dividing wall in its center with wooden floors. The front of…