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In: Environmental Studies, Interviews, Nonfiction, Our Better Angels, Sustainability
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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

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In: Modern Medicine, Nonfiction, Our Better Angels
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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

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I wish everyone a belated Happy New Year! I hope you and your loved ones are staying safe and warm. In East Tennessee, 2024 has come roaring through like a mad badger, bringing with it a snowstorm I hadn’t experienced since I was a child. My mind hearkens to winters in the holler. We were essentially trapped for weeks at a time back in the beautiful dark places, where mountains hide the sun so that it barely glints across the valley, let alone the backroads burdened with ice under snow under ice under snow.Continue Reading

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In: Nonfiction
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We’re nearing the end of the year and the holiday/ winter season is just around the corner. The chilled air carries a magical, fresh scent; holiday bells jingle our benevolent ears; families and friends gather for grand meals or just plain old togetherness. This season affords us the chance to hear our family stories, our histories, our proud moments, and some we might like to sweep under the rug.Continue Reading

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In: Appalachian Connections, Nonfiction, Way Back When
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Oak Ridge. These words always had an enigmatic, almost magical sound to my ears. I couldn’t imagine what my father found so fascinating about this place. More fascinating than nature walks in the woods. More fascinating than teaching biology at the university. So fascinating that he would give up theContinue Reading

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In: Appalachian Connections, Music, Nonfiction, Way Back When
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What possible connection could world-renowned, Russian-born pianist, composer, and performer Sergei Rachmaninoff have with Appalachia? Well, a concert, of course. But not just any concert—his last concert. Earlier this year, the UT Symphony Orchestra commemorated the 80th anniversary of that performance with a concert. Rachmaninoff was a fascinating individual andContinue Reading

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In: Nonfiction, Our Better Angels
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We’re coming upon a holiday where we as a people gather together and reflect on gratitude. We may contemplate the hundreds of Thanksgivings our people had before us. Or, perhaps, we ruminate over the gatherings in the most recent decade. A particular dish. A special person. A family tradition. WeContinue Reading

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In: Craft, Nonfiction, Storytelling
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Grandmother’s button box was always kept on her sewing machine desk. It was more of a small canister, really, made of tin, with a terra cotta-colored plastic lid. The box was decorated with images of people from the Victorian era shopping for fabrics and notions. I do not remember aContinue Reading

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In: Agrarian, Nonfiction, Storytelling, Sustainability
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No one comes to the front door of the old clapboard house, unless of course they are peddling something, or lost. The gravel drive shoots up a short, steep hill and curves around to the back of the house like a strong arm pulls you in for a hug. LeftoverContinue Reading

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In: Hiking, Hunting, Nonfiction, Poetry, Zoology
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This story is about an experience I had with my dad on a sunny afternoon in the mountain holler where we lived. I was about nine or ten years old at the time, and my dad would have been about thirty. The details of that afternoon are not entirely clear,Continue Reading