October 22, 2026
Column
Blessed Assurance – Growing up
For all of us at some point in our lives we dreamed about being older. The older kids always had more freedom (at least that was my perception) and they were able to do so much more than I.
Thoughts from the Crossroads – Monticello
Dear Readers, Independence Day has come and gone, but America’s semiquincentennial year continues! Famed Virginian Thomas Jefferson was pivotal to the colonies breaking away from England, and today I’m writing about his mountaintop home, Monticello. I’ve been there many times over the past couple of decades and it’s always a fun and interesting experience. The first time Rick took me to see Monticello, I remember he deliberately paid for our tickets in cash. That meant he was given back change, and part of his change was a two-dollar bill! How often do you see that? He promptly handed it over to me as a little souvenir of my visit, and I admired TJ’s portrait on the front of the bill. I thought it was so cool that Monticello did that. Of course, instead the twodollar bill, Monticello could give back 40 nickels, which sport a likeness of Monticello on their reverse side. But that would be much heavier and bulky!
Letters from Dogwood – No Techie am I
The other day I ran across a Facebook meme which featured an old fellow complaining about today’s frequent use of texting terms and abbreviations. Someone had sent him the message “GM,” and he was not about to be stumped by that. He replied, “General Motors to you, also!”
On & Off Earth – Exasperated with the extremes
The use of superlatives in our world has reduced their original impact to the mundane; neither a pizza nor a sandwich will ever be: ‘epic’. Very little that happens on a daily basis is ‘unbelievable’ any more. One word that does seem to be holding up, either as an adjective or a noun, is the word, extreme.
Thoughts from the Crossroads – “Give me liberty or give me death!”
In honor of the rapidly approaching Independence Day holiday, today’s column is about the speaker of that famous quote - Founding Father Patrick Henry. We are all familiar with his famous line, delivered to the second Virginia Convention in 1775, but how much do you know about the man otherwise? I must admit until very recently my knowledge was woefully pitiful. But I’ve learned a bit, so here goes.
Blessed Assurance – Becoming
am in a season where many beginnings are happening.
Thoughts from the Crossroads – Fort Bragg
Dear Readers, when I left you last week, Rick and I were departing our hotel in San Francisco and crossing the Golden Gate Bridge to head north. We drove the coastal highway all the way up to Fort Bragg, enjoying the scenic ocean views.
Blessed Assurance – Underestimation
Ihave recently been involved in some car care issues and have had to have “estimates” performed for the work that needed to be accomplished. This is often a harrowing process on a car with 200,000+ miles on it. The estimates for one piece of the work led to estimates for the next broken or worn-out part.
Blessed Assurance – Engaged
It is wedding season once again. In fact, according to one source, 76% of all weddings in the U.S. take place between May and October every year. I am currently engaged to officiate four weddings over the next year, and they all fall in that time frame. People are once again getting engaged and married after a hiatus during and for a couple of years after COVID. It is good to see that people are finding love and are being led to commit to another person – it’s good for them and it’s good for society.
Thoughts from the Crossroads – San Francisco
Dear Readers, Rick and I visited California recently, and really enjoyed our time there.