Reflections Of A Gasbag

For those who didn’t know because of the lack of journalistic integrity, on March 19, Sheridan Gorman walked onto a pier near Loyola University Chicago with a group of friends to try to see the northern lights. She was eighteen years old, a business student, a member of her campus Christian fellowship. Her friends described…

Well, well well. So another year has passed. 2026 is here. My Black Eyed Peas are on the stove and my neighbor is cooking his collard greens in anticipation of our annual New Year’s shindig that we have every year. Just like last year and the many years before I didn’t get it right. I…

I have been riding by the Waffle House on Christmas Eve for the last 30 years. Whether it’s 6 in the afternoon or midnight. It is always slammed on Christmas Eve. Again as I ride by tonight the place is swamped. For years the question of why has haunted me. Why are these people eating…

Somewhere between the last bag of Halloween candy and the first string of Christmas lights, Thanksgiving got lost. It didn’t vanish all at once—just faded, like an old photograph pushed to the back of a drawer. I am one who loves Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving doesn’t demand attention. It whispers, it invites. Thanksgiving doesn’t shout the way…

Today is Easter. The celebration of Easter is always a wonderful day. Today was special. My brother Don sent me a text this morning wanting to come to church with Rebecca and me. We went to the 8am Easter service and it was beautiful. We go to The Village Anglican Church in Greenville SC where…

“ Be at war with your vices, at Peace with your neighbors, and let every New Year find you a better man.” Ben Franklin 2024 will soon be a distant memory and 2025 will be upon us. This timeless advice by Ben Franklin should serve as a New Year’s resolution to all of us. It…

I used to really get into politics. Remember I am old but even before I was able to vote I liked politics and always wanted to get involved. I remember being a huge Bobby Kennedy fan at 12 years old. He was the champion of civil rights and poverty, homelessness. He was going to make…

I started working at a soup kitchen in Greer SC way back in 1990. I have seen many people walk through the doors both as volunteers and those we call “clients”. I have many stories I could tell. Many things I have seen. I grew up in a blue collar family. I never really thought…

My aunt died this past Thursday. She died peacefully after battling leukemia as well as dementia. She was a wonderful woman. She was the organist at Belair United Methodist Church for over 50 years where I grew up in Indian Land, SC. She loved Roosters. Paintings, of roosters, ceramic roosters, coffee table rooster books. She…

My Facebook feed is loaded with Jimmy Buffett tributes from my friends to singers, athletes, and politicians. Buffett meant a lot to many people in the USA including myself. I saw Buffett the first time at what I think was either The New Dixie Saloon or Double Door Inn in 1975? It was before he…