When I was in middle school, I took a class called Appalachian Appreciation one summer at the University of Kentucky. On the first day, the instructor arranged us in a circle and handed one child a large ball of rainbow-colored yarn. She explained that the earliest German, Scottish, and Irish immigrants moved southward into the […]
Life begins at the end of your comfort zone. ~literally every Influencer on social media You know what I mean. This rah-rah phrase is often accompanied by a picture of a circle with the term comfort zone written inside it. Outside the circle is text decrying the magic or growth zone or where […]
I crashed a wedding. It was an accident, but it totally happened. I have a mantra I repeat when things go sideways: if this doesn’t kill me, it’ll make a good story. Writers are always on the lookout for fodder for columns. You might remember my recent ill-fated, solo weekend at the hotel that was […]
“However ordinary each of us may seem, we are all in some way special, and can do things that are extraordinary, perhaps until then…even thought impossible.” ~Sir Roger Bannister The most gifted runners in the world started chasing the goal of a four-minute mile in the 1880’s. In the 1940s, the record for running a […]
“How can we find peace and joy in the middle of a chaotic world? First, find your peace within. If you have peace, you have everything; if you lose your peace, you lose everything. So whatever happens, don’t lose your peace. Treasure your peace of mind so much that you allow nothing to disturb it. […]
On the next clear, moonless night, go outside and face north. The star Vega will be shining very brightly all summer. Look slightly up and to the right and you will see a parallelogram of 4 stars that draw the constellation Lyra. This is my favorite summer constellation. This lopsided box of stars itself isn’t […]
