Is there, or was there ever, a person in your life whose presence thrilled your very being? In my life, to now, there have only been a handful. Near or at the top of my list was my great-aunt Lidia (pronounced “Liddy”) Mincey.
When I was a pre-teen Aunt Lidia would come to our house for visits. Her visits were always surprises, for she never announced her coming. She just appeared. There were times when I would come home from school and there she’d be. No matter what might have happened during the day that was disappointing, all was erased by Aunt Lidia’s presence.

It’s 1893 in the mountains of East Tennessee. There are no TVA nor are there lakes in East Tennessee nor northern Alabama. In the mountains of East Tennessee and north Alabama, work is done by manpower and draft animals. A few oxen are still being used mostly for snaking logs from the mountains to local sawmills or to railroad loading sites scattered through the regions with heavy timber concentrations.

“Who wants to go camping?”
When our fourth-grade teacher asked that question, the class exploded. Everybody was ready to go. Except for me.
The trip was for six days. During this time, they would be “roughing it.” I may have been a farm girl/tomboy, but I liked my electricity and running water.

If you drive down the road right now and see patches of blue in the spring green hayfields and pastures, it’s liable to be lyre-leaf sage. I have it in my fields, as do my neighbors. It’s always been around, but I normally only see it along roadsides and field edges. It is in the same family of plants as the herbal sage used as a condiment.

The tomato is one of the most popular garden vegetables! If you're looking forward to growing your own tomatoes for the first time this summer, keep these tips in mind:
Plant tomato transplants deeper than they were growing in the tray; the deeper, the better.
Pick a location that does not hold water and receives as much direct sunlight as possible.

Exercise, of course, is good for you. But any form of exercise also can expose you to the risk of injury. Riding a bicycle is a great form of exercise, but it, too, has its risks. A relatively common injury among cyclists is an irritation and inflammation of the ulnar nerve, which runs from the armpit through the inside of the elbow and into the hand and forearm.

I simply couldn’t believe it. It was a surprise and not a pleasant one.
When I was 12 years old, one of my classmates had a birthday party and I was the only one in our group of friends who was wasn’t invited. To beat it all, I had no idea until I heard them talk about it at school. Yep, they talked about the birthday party right in front of me. I couldn’t understand why they would do that. Let me tell you, it really hurt. I wondered what I done wrong to deserve that.

Several years ago I was charged with publishing the newsletter for the Union County Education Association. One of the first tasks was to determine a title. A good teacher colleague of mine suggested Can We Talk? for the newsletter’s name. I did not think much of the suggestion, but I had no better idea, so I went with it. Little did I know that phrase was something of an American iconic statement. A Google search will inform that there is a song by that name (recorded by American R & B singer Tevin Campbell), and comedian Joan Rivers used it as a catchphrase.

I have seen these cookies on the grocer"s shelf. Mine taste better. They are easy to make and make a lot. Stir up a batch today. In mixing bowl, cream butter, shortening and sugar for 2 minutes with mixer until fluffy, Add eggs. Mix well. Gradually add water and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture. Fold in coconut. Cover and chill two hours or overnight. When ready to bake, shape into 1 inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets. Flatten with fingers into 2 1/2 by 1 inch oblongs. Score lengthwise with a floured fork. Bake at 400 F. for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 2 minutes before removing from pan. Makes about 9 dozen bars

In simpler times people gathered their own fish bait, and a trip to the fishing hole started in the garden digging worms or walking grassy fields to catch grasshoppers.
These days most folks are too busy and just go to the bait shop. But particularly if you have kids, hunting for bait can be a fun and learning experience, putting them more in touch with the natural world.
Gathering your own also allows you access to bait not commercially available. Here is a short list of some bait you can find locally.