As the funyak dropped on its side, it rapidly filled with water and soon flipped over, throwing me into the churning waters. Under I went even with a life jacked on. As I came to the surface I discovered that the funyak was on top of me, and since no amount of thrashing could get it off of me and I stayed under water. As my breath started to run out . . . Continue Reading
We work our way next through a scruffy zone of ironweed, oxeye daisies and Queen Anne’s lace, then plunge to shade under trees, passing through a smattering of jewelweed, poison ivy and monkey flower. Then, at last, in deep shade, we come to water . . . Continue Reading
Standing on the edge of the road and looking up and down the hill, there really was no road. Just debris and rubble, with no viable means of transportation. Many of the buildings on either side of the road were damaged. No water in sight. To me, it looked like a war zone. The street had been . . . Continue Reading
Filled with great emotion, I walked up to the backdoor steps of the new house and stood on the first step, unable to open the door. Tears welled up in my eyes . . . Continue Reading
The state of Tennessee condemned the Elkmont summer cabins asserting eminent domain over the use of the land. Summer families fought back, and a deal was struck. They could stay if . . . Continue Reading
Annabel was tough, and she did not take prisoners. No excuses for failure to complete assignments were accepted. If a person was still drawing breath into their body, had blood coursing through their veins, and was still warm, they had darn well better have done their homework, or a browbeating ensued. She required book reports every two weeks. I remember vividly . . . Continue Reading
I keep Great-Aunt Bonnie’s sewing box tucked away in a closet. Mama gave it to me long ago after Bonnie died. It isn’t really a box at all, but a big Christmas cookie tin . . . Continue Reading
As a graduate student in the 1970s and college English instructor in the 1980s, I could scarcely ignore the tempestuous currents spawned by the literary and cultural movement known as Deconstruction. The brain child of contemporary French philosopher Jacques Derrida, Deconstruction challenged decades of academia’s approach to understanding literature. Deconstructionists argued that culture itself was a text. As such, the movement’s adherents assumed that . . . Continue Reading
Founded in 2009, SEEED, or Socially Equal Energy Efficient Development, is an exceptionally designed non-profit with a mission to help young people find a way out of poverty. Their story is so unique because SEEED is an entirely local grown organization, cultivated from concerns about housing costs, high utility bills, and gun violence. These issues, paired with the fact that few real opportunities exist out there for youths to succeed and excel, prompted SEEED to start digging for a solution.Continue Reading
At the age of 28, tired of bouncing from job to job . . . I opted to go back to school for a nursing degree. Once the transferable credits were applied from my B.A. in psychology, I could finish the program in only two and a half years. I just had one problem—I was broke.Continue Reading