Essays

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

August 10, 2024

Oliver!

My musings of summer return me to a memorable Danville Public Schools summer musical of 1991 (there you go, Spiro T. Agnew). Our production was Oliver! held in the auditorium of Bonner Middle School under the direction of Marcia Dalton. Danny Davis had put together an orchestra; and he was our music director. Marcia... Read More

Essays

July 10, 2024

Eclipse Over Danville

I’m writing on a “partly cloudy, “partly sunny” (meteorologist terminology) day. Clouds sometimes obscure the sun, subduing the glow from above, and shading the glow of spring’s later-blooming perennials from below. But these clouds make for a more “normal” dimming of the day than that seen back on April 8th: the eclipse of the sun.... Read More

Essays

June 7, 2024

Bluets

Now that we’ve reached the month in which spring departs and summer debuts, let me tell you my thoughts of a little flower which began this spring season. This flower is an annual, but giving lasting, perennial pleasure in its sighting. In contrast to the slow, green rise of the daffodil stalks above the ground,... Read More

Essays

May 14, 2024

Singing Again for Wake Forest

Well, not long ago, I sang the National Anthem again for the Demon Deacons, specifically the Wake Forest/Syracuse game. It seems that each time I sing at the Lawrence Joel Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum is unique (I don’t mean some swell-headed uniqueness, but rather, the uniqueness of the day, just as every day of life is... Read More

Essays

May 10, 2024

An Unpalatable Truth

We think we know the people with whom we forge deep friendships. However, we only know what our friends choose to reveal. We might discover a greater truth later or even after they die. Then we have a choice: whether to let it shape how we feel about the person. I’ll call my friend Janet. ... Read More

Essays

April 11, 2024

In Plain Sight

On a recent Sunday, I parked next to the grounds of the Danville Museum, as I usually do, and walked along the white picket fence surrounding that museum to a point where I crossed the road and entered Danville’s First Presbyterian Church, to which I belong, and sing in the choir. Standing out against the... Read More

Essays

March 14, 2024

A Grand Day Out!

You often see “Christmas in July” store sales. Well, this is my “July in March” writing (four months apart, but only two seasons apart). When my little family lived in Yanceyville, we frequented two more-urban areas: Danville and Greensboro. In those days, before the existence of Danville’s marvelous Science Center, the Greensboro Natural Science Center... Read More

Essays

February 13, 2024

The Stink Bug Having Crawled, Crawls On

While walking down one hallway of Danville’s First Presbyterian Church on a Sunday a while back, I saw something small and shadowy which stood out against the wall’s white paint. I dared not touch it, squash it, or even try to find some container in which to safely transport it back outside (as I am... Read More

Essays

January 11, 2024

It’s OK to Play in Your Good Clothes

The other day, on my way to my car, in Danville’s Westover Drive Food Lion parking lot, I saw something which “jumped out at me” (not literally, though). It began with something we all do (or should do) with our grocery carts when we’re through with them, but morphed into a sort of game. A... Read More

Essays

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