Nanners and mossies
Never quite sure how to spell in Australian, or even pronunciate, but this tidbit just in from an Aussie friend. And he swears it's bloody well true: If you avoid eating bananas, you will be less tasty to the local mosquito population. That's right. If you avoid eating bananas, you ...
A Chance in Hell
Regardless of where you stand on America's dual wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, particularly if your support has waned somewhat in recent years, it's important to separate the actions of the 19-year olds who make up most of the soldiery there from the people who keep us there now. The ...
Albemarle is a neat little town
John Chappell's twitter feeds from the Pinelake murder trial's jury selection in Albemarle brings back memories of childhood years spent there. Albemarle for me means old Central Elementary School and the first, second and third grades. It was walking to school on crisp fall days with crunchy leaves underfoot, the ...
New life at Whisper Lake
After watching for weeks, the killdeer I wrote about in mid-June has produced two chicks so far, with two more eggs still in hatching. The first hatched last night and within minutes was scooting around the nest, his mother watching warily. On occasion, she'd peck on the eggs that were ...
Stunning beauty in the countryside
Life's more interesting if you look for the beauty in small things. You just never know when an extraordinary scene is around the curve. Driving back from a quick trip to Charlotte on Father's Day, we were traveling along NC 24-27 near Robbins. We passed a field of sunflowers in ...
A saga of life and birth
There is no telling what drove her to choose this particular site to have her offspring. Perhaps it was the near perfect camouflage for her coloring. Perhaps it was a sense of urgency, stemming from the eggs that she had inside. Whatever it was, she chose a rough, mossy patch ...
Remembering D-Day
Today is the anniversary of D-Day, the invasion of Europe in World War II. Most people, less aware of history, or younger and less connected to the generation that went through it, will pass through today and not think about it, or even be aware of it. But today, I ...
Experience the joy of exceptional music
Generally speaking, it's more likely you'll find me at The Rooster's Wife on a Sunday evening, soaking in the sounds of American roots music, than at a symphony concert any day of the week. Like any music, classical has its various threads and styles, some of which are pleasing and ...
An important day in N.C.'s history
Regardless of what your feelings are about it, today marks an important date in the history of the Old North State. It was 150 years ago today that North Carolina withdrew from the United States and joined the other southern states in forming the Confederate States of America, and thus ...
Close up looks at spring
I've been shooting closeups of blooms for the past year, and find that the closer I look, the more beautiful they appear. Here is a clematis from last weekend.
United for a few minutes
If only for a brief and fleeting instant, it appeared the country came together this week with the news of Osama bin Laden's death. Even if we don't know exactly what it means in terms of bin Laden's role as a fading memory, American's seemed genuinely relieved. My neighbor, who ...
TV still a vast wasteland?
Fifty years ago a man named Newton Minow, who was the head of the Federal Communications Commission, gave a speech to the National Association of Broadcasters in which he characterized the television landscape as a "vast wasteland". This is akin to telling a room full of young mothers that, "All ...
The most sobering video from Japan's earthquake
If you haven't seen this video, it is the most telling I've ever seen regarding a tsunami. The power of water is clearly displayed. It's long, about 5 minutes, but you will get a new appreciation for what the people in Japan are dealing with now in its aftermath. link ...
Antique Tackle Show this weekend
For any fishing friends out there, assuming I have some, there is a big antique tackle collectors show this weekend at the Days Inn Conference Center. That won't mean much to some of you, but antique lures are highly collectable and some bring really big prices. I was talking with ...
Stressed at Work? You're Not Alone
It might not come as a big surprise, but according to a recent Harris Interactive Poll reported by thinkstock.com, more than 3/4 of the working population feels anxiety caused by stress at work. The most common cause was low pay from the job, which 14% of respondents said they were ...
Is anyone going to win the office pool?
Everyone who put a buck in the NCAA men's basketball office pool is scratching their collective head, trying to figure out what happened. (Does anyone bet on the women's tournament?) No one could have guessed the combination of Final Four teams that came to pass. Everyone around here assumed either ...
Quote of the week- or decade
I suspect this quote from Steven Pearlstein of the Washington Post won't make anyone happy, but I think it's profound in light of what we have seen transpire in our nation's economy over the past decade. I've said to friends we're in a shakedown period, where a very large percentage, ...
Big hole golf - a fun idea
Unfortunately I won't be able to play in the golf tournament tomorrow at Pine Needles, but it's got to be a fun event. I'm as serious about the game as the next hacker, but the idea of putting to a golf cup that's 15 inches wide makes me salivate. Think ...
Date night and the Oscars
Took my bride out for a date last Friday night and we went to see The King's Speech. I'm glad we did, though it was odd that there was not a single young person in the theatre. Maybe they'd all seen it already. Anyway, we went to The Black Swan ...
As the Mid-East Rumbles
My thoughts after watching the developments in Libya the past few days...more questions than answers... When things first started shaking loose in Egypt a few weeks ago, I wondered out loud in the office if we would see a ring of fire around the Mediterranean Sea in the near future. ...
