Articles
Fannie Flagg for Father’s Day
Reading a new book just about every week, Daddy liked a variety of authors and topics. Traditional favorites like Faulkner and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings were balanced by biographies and stories about the wild west. His emergency hurricane cash-stash was hidden between the pages of Jimmy Buffett’s, “A Pirate looks at Fifty” and I once found…
Read MoreReal cheesecake is regional
My voice activated music system sometimes acts as if it doesn’t understand me unless I tone down my drawl, which gives me wrinkles around my mouth, because you have to pinch your mouth up in order to squelch a Southern accent. Try saying, “Hey Siri, play Guy Penrod” without a small twang in your tongue.…
Read MoreTreasure boxes hold what’s important to us
Before I post the column for this week, let me take a moment to thank everyone who noticed my column hasn’t appeared in the print edition of the Mobile, Birmingham and Huntsville papers for the last few weeks. There’s a new computer system at AL.com, and with that comes a different way of loading up…
Read MoreEnjoy them now and graduation will be easier
Older women would see my children and say, “Enjoy them while they’re young. They grow up in a hurry.” I’d smile and think, “That’s sweet,” but what I didn’t understand was they were actually revealing the secret for not losing my mind years later when my children walked out the door into the world. The…
Read MoreThe attack of the thoughtless leprechaun
Feiciano was a college student from Florida A&M University who was one of the full-time aides in my public school Pre-K classroom. At the time, I thought he was a very grown up adult, but now that I’m the mom of young men that same age, I see what a fun-loving big kid he was.…
Read MoreQuilts are time traveling hugs from granny
The companies that sell the new weighted blankets claim they give a sense of “security, safety, and calmness.” No kidding — just like the antique quilts.
Read MoreTime to ditch the pajama pants
Americans were saddened while viewing the funeral of President George H. W. Bush, but I have to admit, I felt joy when I realized no one showed up in yoga pants and a T-shirt. Dignity, proper behavior and class were on display and America once again looked like a country of real grown-ups. Finally, political differences…
Read MoreTime travel to the best night ever
If anyone invents a way to time travel without messing up my hair, I think I’d like to go back to the night of great contrasts, where darkness was shattered by blinding light, stillness was cracked by shouts and boredom was shaken by excitement. I’m captivated by the familiar story of shepherds keeping watch over…
Read MoreAn award winning sandwich at Turkey and the Wolf
My lunch was served on a melamine Ronald McDonald plate and I still thought, “Bon Appetit Magazine got it right.” Their award for Best Restaurant in America for 2017 went to an unassuming hole-in-the-wall sandwich shop that beat out fancier, older places with starched white tablecloths, fine china and hefty price tags. Before being handed…
Read MoreUse the good china
A version of this story can be found in my book, Exploding Hushpuppies— More Stories from Home. My brother and I were settled deep into the orange shag carpet watching The Brady Bunch, when we heard an enormous crash. My mother, who had fortunately stepped into the garage for a moment, thought an airplane had…
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