It’s a gorgeous morning in my Charlotte neighborhood. The sun is shining, wind is still. Hard to believe we got hit by Helene yesterday. Not everyone got through unscathed. Just 2 1/2 miles northwest, residents were evacuated as the Catawba River swelled past its banks. Three miles west of my house, the road into Mount…
Read More After the stormIt was way too hot in the afternoon. But it was pleasant under the trees at our campsite. It’s fun to hang out with my hiker pals. They’re smart, strong and always interesting. The forecast for the evening was light rain, maybe. Suddenly, that changed to severe thunderstorms. I decided to climb into my hammock…
Read More Mother Nature’s sense of humorUPDATE: Jeez, I typed the year wrong. I have corrected that… In 1977, I was attending college and working part-time at the local newspaper. Besides writing a weekly music column, I used their typewriters for my class assignments (hey, I’m old) and took care of stuff no one else wanted to do (“Club Calendar,” calling…
Read More How Elvis helped my careerI’ve now had both eyes replaced. (well, not “replaced,” but it sounds more interesting than “cataract surgery.“) And it’s as life-changing as if I’d had them actually replaced. I’ve been wearing eyeglasses since I was 16, first for nearsightedness, then for that and farsightedness (never did understand how I could have both; shouldn’t they cancel…
Read More The eyes have itI got to spend Labor Day weekend with 3 of my favorite hiker pals, on a two-night camping trip. It was too damn hot. I was too damn out of shape. My pals weren’t ready to run marathons, either. Still, we had the best time. We were in the woods! Our adventures included a 7-mile…
Read More Two nights in the woods!