Tag Archives: Alabama

Porches In The Rain

The rain came under a ledge of gray clouds. The mountains could not stop it. The Blue Ridge turned a foggy face to the deluge and earned their name in somber hues above us. We sat on the front porch … Continue reading

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Wasps Riding The Clothesline

I just filled our clothes dryer with yet another load of damp laundry. It reminded me of a time when we had no dryer and our formerly nasty clothes hung in the backyard on a clothesline for everyone to ogle. … Continue reading

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Drunk and Dressed To The Hilt

I went to a Southern university where proper ladies and gentlemen of culture wore suits, ties and sundresses to football games on Saturday. Since I was neither proper nor cultured and wouldn’t recognize a lady or a gentleman if they … Continue reading

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Door-to-Door Donuts

It was a recession, not unlike now, but not as bad. The man lived down the street from my family in Montgomery, Alabama. He owned a sea-green station wagon that looked like a military half-trac. He had been laid off … Continue reading

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The End of Mystery

We want to know everything. We want all the answers. We skip to the end of the book, we FF through the movie, we dip our fingers in the cake batter and taste the salmonella. We suck the whip cream … Continue reading

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Freshman Year With Bernie

Bernie Madoff, the money guy accused of Ponzi scheming the rich and famous, went to the University of Alabama in the 1950?s. I don?t think my alma mater will be using this tidbit in the recruiting brochures or touting it … Continue reading

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You Can’t Hide Your Possum Eyes

Walking deep in the woods on a whispery warm day in December, a carpet of pine straw cushion crunches below, sap blows in the air, not a deadline in sight. Out here there is no bad news by the minute, … Continue reading

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Noodling and Shaking

Recently, I have been talking to people about Southern proclivities that fall outside regional categorization. Noodling, for instance.

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What I Got For Christmas: Fire Ants

I have written about fire ants before. But things have changed in the South. Call it global warming. Call it a fire ant invasion. Call it an environmental rash, whatever. I have experienced fire ants up close all of my … Continue reading

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This Year, I Was The Fat Man. Again.

Many years ago when my nephew (now in his early thirties) was a child, I did something so stupid it has attached itself to me like a permanent holiday appendage: I wrangled a Santa suit and scared him so badly, … Continue reading

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