Night of the Whip-poor-will

Since summer arrives this month, I am writing about something which happened one summer when I was around 6 or 7 years old (1957 or 1958). Wikipedia (before that, Compton’s, World Book, Britannica, etc.), says that the whip-poor-will is a nocturnal country bird which lives in a dry-deciduous or evergreen-deciduous forest that is without underbrush... Read More

Essays

May 12, 2025

In the Bosom

The subject of this story is not what you may think from the title. Catchy titles draw the reader in. So, I hope you are suitably drawn. I sometimes source my collection of hats, helmets, coats and jackets of different time periods of the twentieth century to affect a certain “look from history” when venturing... Read More

Essays

April 15, 2025

Everything Made New (or Newer)

Just up the road from me is a mini-Shell station, not really a full-fledged service station, for its main service is at the tap or swipe of your card, the gasoline becomes available (if approved). That little Shell station recently had a total replacement (all I ever had replaced were my hips). I saw the... Read More

Essays

March 7, 2025

“Manna” from Heaven

This snow seemed to arrive quickly in the evening, like a surprise, or it would have been without the Weather Channel’s radar and the endless beforehand “harping” on it by the weather reporters. Maybe the fact the snow’s predicted arrival was off by about an hour or so injected that little bit of “old-time” surprise... Read More

Essays

February 21, 2025

It’s Snowing a Thousand Feet Up

In my life, the calendar has been turned to the month of February 73 times; but one particular “February-turning” stands out in 1970, a few weeks short of my 19th birthday, while a freshman at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C. Some years ago (not 1970), also in February, I heard a local TV weatherman... Read More

Essays

January 14, 2025

SLOW, STOP, SLOW

The new year gives pause for thought, to make resolutions or take a break just to sit back, observe, and enjoy. Sometimes, we take that break on our own; and sometimes, it is forced upon us. This story is about the latter. One day, this past fall, I headed down to Yanceyville to visit with... Read More

Essays

December 12, 2024

The Bible Raised High

This being the month of December, many will pick up the Bible and turn to the Gospels to read the Christmas Story silently, or aloud to their children. Or they will hear it read to them in church. Sometimes as an accompaniment to a group of fellow parishioners in “Biblical garb” which looks suspiciously like... Read More

Essays

November 11, 2024

They Came from the 1960s

I recently happened upon a movie on YouTube which I had missed back in the “heyday” of its release, 1967. It’s titled They Came from Beyond Space, and being British-produced proves that we are not alone in producing vintage sci-fi schlock (hmm, “We are not alone” was an oft-used phrase in those old movies). The... Read More

Essays

October 10, 2024

Waving and Bobbing!

I’m starting out this article in the past, giving it some background for the present. Since moving to Danville some years ago, I’ve paid my light bill at The Charles H. Harris Financial Center. I guess I’m behind the times by not saying, “electric bill,” (and on a related note, I also refer to a... Read More

Essays

September 14, 2024

Day School Luncheon

For many years, Danville’s First Presbyterian Church has operated and continues to operate a first-class day school, benefitting many children in the community, without church membership being a pre-requisite for either student or teacher. Recently, a just-past-noon Sunday luncheon was held by the day school, with the members of the congregation being invited. The luncheon... Read More

Essays