Category Archives: Opinions
The demise of dinner and rise of rudeness
Before Martha Stewart, there was Amy Vanderbilt. She wrote “Amy Vanderbilt’s Complete Book of Etiquette,” a comprehensive and wide-ranging guide to gracious living, containing practical advice for every occasion, ensuring 
that all social interactions would be handled with grace and
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Land of the free, home of the brave
As a chaplain for a veterans health care facility and an honor guard that recognizes military personnel, I’m devoted to respecting those who were willing to give their lives for our freedom, and it’s truly a privilege to spend quality 
time with the many fine men and women of our nation’s armed forces.
In this month of remembrance, I believe it’s important to not only
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EARL RICHARD ‘PAPA’ REECE
PICKENS — Mr. Earl Richard Reece, 80, went home to be with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on Nov. 10, 2021, he passed in peace.
He was born in Pickens County and was the husband of Bonnie Mosley Reece, former husband of the late Judy Gillespie. He was the son of the late Ernest Robert Reece and the late Zefpha Stancil Reece.
Mr. Reece enjoyed his large family. He spent his working years as a residential painter and logger providing for his family. He was a
Finding a more educated view
Sifting and sorting through the economic news, licking my thumb and holding it up in the wind and trying to figure out why inflation is suddenly a thing again.
That’s what I’ve been doing — sort of.
I have no qualifications to pontificate on such matters — although I haven’t let that stop me in the past. But this time I decided to call my old friend-of-the-family, Alumni Distinguished Professor of Economics Emeritus of Clemson University, noted author and holder
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False perceptions
We all know a “Julie” from our high school days. She sat behind me in freshman algebra, and later we shared a history class, and then, was it biology in our senior year? Julie is the girl with the pretty smile and lovely eyes. The one we whisper about behind her back. We say things like “She has such beautiful hair, if only she could lose some weight,” or “She has such a pretty smile, if only she could drop a few pounds.”
We all know we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover — but we do.
Americans have many false perceptions of what makes a woman
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As the year goes by
There are scientific explanations for why the sky turns that clear, intense blue in fall, why the leaves change color and why the air can be described as “crisp.”
You may define it, analyze it and put it under a microscope to examine all the variables that make these phenomena happen. It doesn’t matter. Let’s just consider it a seasonal miracle here once again to
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God has a wonderful plan for you
If we do not learn from our trials, then our distress has been a missed opportunity. Crisis situations are occasions to put our faith and patience to work, and may we always remember that we cannot be defeated, as God is for us and is constantly working on our behalf.
There are times when we will suffer trauma, discouragement, or even persecution, and no doubt it will be uncomfortable, but we must eventually get back up and dust ourselves off and get back into the
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Even the best laid plans can go awry
We haven’t had any sort of family vacation for three years until last week, when we went to the beach with my brother for four days. We left Thursday and returned Monday.
When you live on a farm with animals, it takes a lot of strategic planning just to get away. A friend was going to take care of the chihuahua, we were boarding Boomer, our boxer bulldog, and a neighbor was feeding the horses and chickens and the barn cat, Mr.
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And the beat goes on
I guess it would be fair to say that your target audience as a musician has dwindled when your most faithful fan — and harshest critic — is a black and white cat named “Scooter.”
I could blame it on the pandemic, but there are probably other factors involved.
Scooter is a little harder to please than Smokey was. Maybe Smokey is still digging me from up in Cat Heaven, but it’s hard to tell.
Scooter digs some of my stuff. I can tell he’s digging it if he just hangs out on the deck with me for a while after he finishes his supper. It’s a pretty low bar — but he’s a cat.
Anyway, right now I’m feeling a little down because of his reaction to
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Goodbye to Old Man Bradford
Old Man Bradford is dead.
I call him “Old Man,” but he was only 36. He looked like an old man, though — gnarled and pock-marked. Really, he was a monster.
Old Man Bradford never should have come into this world. He wasn’t created by the Lord. He was concocted by a man — a well-meaning scientist. Like Frankenstein’s monster, this creation didn’t turn out good.
Old Man Bradford stood in my front yard for as long as I’ve lived here,
in a quiet, wooded neighborhood in Easley. He stood there for 10 years before we bought the house.
I’m not sure how tall he was, but he was much taller than most. He measured 22 inches in diameter and boasted a girth of 67 inches. He was a big boy!
I hope you’ve guessed by now that I’m talking about my Bradford pear tree, whose kind has become the scourge of the Western hemisphere,
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