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A moment in the mountains

I stood at the edge of the mountain and looked down at the green of the fields below. The fields were cut neatly into the shapes that the farmers had cultivated them in for years. The blue sky around me seemed to almost envelope me as I stood amongst the rocks and trees listening to […]

A reflection that shimmers in the glass

I walked up the street around the Square in Covington, Ga. looking in the windows at the items on display in the store windows. It was warm that September afternoon as I took a few minutes from the set to find the peace in my mind away from the sounds of the assistant directors calling […]

What does it mean ?

There are many times in my life when I have searched for the reason someone that I care for becomes ill or suffers through some series of events. I have sat by the bedside looking at tubes connected to someone’s body; and watched people struggle to find a new normal while coming back from a change […]

Rejection lessons

I took the antique cedar box and polished it until it had a shine like a brand new nickel. In the inside of the upper lid, I pasted a photo of me playing the fiddle on the stage of the Ryman Auditorium. It is amazing what we might think will serve to convey the feelings […]

Golfing with Chi Chi

I am not a golfer by any means. To say my drives are short would not be an exaggeration. One time I attended a celebrity golf tournament and my golf game was so bad it became the topic for the comedian who entertained us that evening at dinner. How he made it into a 20-minute […]

Tenacity is within the genes

My recent experience of struggling each day to work my way back from a hip injury is giving me such an amazing respect for the profession of physical therapy and the process the put the patient through to awaken the various muscles back into performing their previous automatic duties. The experience made me reflect on […]

I have fallen, but I will get up

Writer’s note: Friends, As a public personality for decades, I am always reluctant about sharing about any of my health concerns until I feel others may in some way gain an insight which may benefit them in future by my writing about it. Thankfully, this column is not about the pandemic. It has been many […]

Is the richness of debate a dying art?

I am learning that the field of earnest debate between people is becoming an art that is no longer appreciated nor desired by many. I will never forget the joy as a youth of learning the skills of debate, of working to bring someone who was on the other side of an issue into your […]

A fiddle and a fireplace

I don’t know much about my Grandpa Harve’s childhood, although I am told his tales of life on the Tennessee River rivaled those of Mark Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn.” When my dad was a boy, Harve gathered the children around the fireplace and before bed told a story of an orphaned boy named A.J. (his real […]