[July 24, 2023] From the earliest days of my young life! My Granddaddy Smith owned a large, mangy, ugly, tough, mean-as-heck tomcat. His name? “Tom.” More kittens were born because of his virility than any cat in that town. His harem of female cats was huge, but they all served a valuable function on Granddaddy’s property by… Read More »
[July 19, 2023] My dad was a New York Yankees fan, and by default, so was I. To this day, I never knew why; we lived in the Deep South, where professional baseball was king, but my dad still insisted the Yankees were the team we would follow, and all three of us kids (later four) will always… Read More »
[July 16, 2023] He was an obnoxious, arrogant, self-centered, spiteful bully with a streak of hate running through his black heart. Our family had just moved to a new town, and I was academically transferred to my new Junior High, just a few miles from where I grew up but, in actuality, an entire world away. I… Read More »
[July 11, 2023] For several years, I’ve had a series on courage (links here), and it is one of the more popular and garnering many comments across the political spectrum. I’m proud to write today about a young lady who truly embodies the spirit of courage, and she is Riley Gaines, an American former competitive swimmer who competed… Read More »
[July 10, 2023] I was born in Arkansas, close to a line of small towns that ran south into Louisiana along what is now state Route 165, where all my relatives married, worked, raised their families, and died. My hometown is Mer Rouge, where I learned to be a young man. I lived in this little village, without… Read More »
[July 9, 2023] In his book Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning, published just this year, Professor Nigel Biggar presents a strong case that our present understanding of colonialism has little grounding in fact. Using the BritishEmpires’ system, he shows, contrary to popular belief, that British colonialism was a strong force that marshaled itself against slavery, racism, and other “sins”… Read More »
[July 8, 2023] It was the Fall of 1960. I attended the second grade at a small school in a rural northeast Louisiana town. There I met a few men from the Korean War. The younger of these men helped teach us kids how to throw a spitball, steal a base, and do a proper bunt in baseball. … Read More »
[July 5, 2023] Granddaughter! Perhaps you are now wondering why I’m writing these letters to you, a growing, beautiful young lady. You are the oldest of my grandchildren. And like your father and like me as your grandfather, we are each the firstborn and with that position comes special privileges and also expectations. While I am confident that… Read More »
[July 4, 2023] America’s Independence Day is special. It is more than Americans recognizing their independence from the British Empire 247 years ago; it is seen by all those who want the freedom to practice a religion of their choice, raise a family as they see fit, elect a government of their choosing, and going about their daily… Read More »
[June 28, 2023] Sometimes, things come along just when you need them most. The hard-boiled eggs were colored in pastels, craftily hidden throughout the backyard, tucked behind a tree, hidden in the grass, behind a bush, and on the fence post. And there was Mom gathering all her children together. It was Easter Sunday, the first Easter in… Read More »