Category: Americana
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Follow Your Heart? Yellowstone vs. Hallmark Movies
Recently, I watched a few episodes of Yellowstone, the hit television show starring Kevin Costner, Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, and Cole Hauser. This award-winning, modern-Western drama is set amongst the stunning mountain vistas of Montana. The first thing I noticed — If I had a nickel for every f-word uttered, I could buy a ranch…
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The Woke and Their Golden Paint
In 1949, George Orwell wrote the literary classic 1984. This fictional dystopian social science novel looks at the consequences of totalitarianism and how such a regime manipulates truth and facts, primarily through censorship and redefining the meaning of words. How ironic that the University of Northampton (in England) is censoring 1984 by issuing a trigger…
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Gambling and the Death of Sports
I betcha you’re wondering the same thing I am. What’s with all the gambling commercials on television? FanDuel and Draft Kings, to name just two of the commercials seen on Fox during the 2023 Super Bowl. I am confused. Professional athletes are warned that betting on games will get them suspended, and if the bet…
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The First Time Abortion Became Real For Me
Sad to say, but one of the hot-button issues in politics today is abortion. There are those who are passionately for it, and just as many who are passionately against it. One aspect of this issue wherein you would hope to find consensus is around abortion survivors — those babies who survive a mid-to-late term…
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Heavenly Dining in Small-Town America
One of the most enjoyable experiences one can have is driving through a small-town community, stopping at some out-of-the-way restaurant, and discovering a culinary treasure. You know the place, a local non-chain eatery that, at first glance, may cause you to hesitate to go inside, only to be blindsided by the sheer mouth-watering deliciousness of…
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Must Love Dogs?
I had an epiphany this week. Every woman I have married came with a dog. Dating these women didn’t come with a “Must Love Dogs” conditional statement, but the implication was clear enough — you marry me, you get the dog too. They saw it as a bonus. I just smiled and considered it a…
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Defining Success
Rummaging through the attic this week, I found some old high school trophies. Half a century ago, these treasured testaments sat proudly on a shelf displaying my teenage achievements. “MVP,” “Most Likely to…,” “Best All-Around..” Well, you get the idea. Yet, today, these long-forgotten, bygone memories are rusting and collecting dust in a box that…
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Success Sickness
Growing old is, what can I say, an adventure? Arthritis is like a non-stop robocall that keeps ringing at all times of the day or night. Then there are those senior moments when I forget why I walked upstairs. Now entering my eighth decade of life, I have to live with the fact I am…
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Summer Daze and Asphalt Waves
It’s summer in Georgia, where saunas are free. All you have to do is step outside to learn the true definition of “sweltering.” Yes, you know it’s summertime in the Southland when the heat, humidity, and mosquitos rise to unbearable levels. Thank God for Willis Carrier! (Inventor of the first electrical air conditioner in 1902.) …
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Celebrating Freedom
I approach this July 4th with what can be best described as mixed emotions. Most certainly, I want to celebrate the birth of our great Republic. Oh, how youthful memories flow of those 4ths of July spent at baseball tournaments or family reunions at my grandmother’s. As a young adult, many an Independence Day meant a trek to my…
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