Three-Year-Old Event Still Causes Giggin’
As a farm writer, I often receive communications from readers who have opinions about my subjects and sometimes their opinions may not agree with...
A Simple Cigar Box
You just never know how someone else will interpret what your intentions are until they are placed in the position to have to make...
Hold That Hog A Little Higher
It was a beautiful Tennessee spring morning when I pulled in the long gravel driveway of Uncle Sid and Aunt Sadie's farm. The hills...
Nothing Can Stop The Desire
Whenever I have the chance to meet up with a group of friends, there is always one question that never fails to get asked...
A Good Stern Look Does Wonders
As I looked through a display of brightly colored packaged seeds at Kelton's store the other day, I saw some okra that reminded me...
What T-Shirt Should You Wear
I love my state this time of the year! You can tell you are in Tennessee when the days begin to warm and the...
Is Cousin Clod Happy?
Since I no longer drive to work, I now am pleasantly awakened each weekday to the sound of my favorite radio station WSM and...
Wash Your Hands Around Chicks
The last few weeks as I have visited my Coop to pickup things needed for around the homestead, I have heard a distinctive sound...
New Companion
A few weeks ago, I decided to take the plunge and get something that has been gone from my life for over six years....
Don’t Tell An Agriculturist There Are No Farmers
While stopping by the Quickity Sack the other day to pick up a bottle of water, a farmer saw some of his discussion buddies...
Heads and Rocks Don’t Mix
Did you know that 95 percent of all available fresh water is in the ground? With the recent winter rains and snows, water has...
Cold Day Wondering
As the final cold winds of February made their way across the cedar tree and ice covered Tennessee farmland of my Versailles homestead recently,...
Country Boy Survives Winter Storm
The recent winter weather, along with the state of emergency being issued in the Volunteer State, has sent many of us into a state...
You Rang?
A few years ago, there was a big push to get everyone on the National Do Not Call Registry for your home telephone. After...
Good Advice From Mother
During a recent visit to the local grocery store, I heard a young mother give her toddler some advice that I had not heard...
Put Your Feet In Their Shoes
For the next several weeks I'm involved in my county sheriff's citizen academy, where I have the opportunity to learn a whole lot about...
Walking Through The Store
Still standing near the four-way stop in the community where I live is Versailles Grocery, vacant, with rusting RC signs and a reminder of...
Let Kids Be Kids
During my days of "full-employment," I thought once I retired that stress would be something I would only feel during selecting a different choice...
Warming Up With Bubba Skinner
As the New Year makes its presence known by giving the state of Tennessee some real winter weather, that many seem to forget happens...
January Cold Got To Me Already
With the holidays all over and the weather being pretty much on the cold side the last few weeks in Tennessee, winter has been...
Open Up Commerce With Cuba Or Not
As the chartered four-prop plane touched down on the runway of the Josemarti-LaHarana Airport in Havana, Cuba, I, along with thirty other semi-anxious people,...
Already Starting to Miss 2014
Just the other day, I picked up my annual Normal Rockwell calendar from the drug store for 2015, and as I thumbed through the...
Time To Tell The Firestone Story
Back in the day when I held a real job instead of being retired, I remember one December evening riding on a shuttle bus...
Something Else To Begin
I have found out that when something ends something else begins, at least that has been the way it has worked in my life....
Farm Ponds Did Freeze Once Upon A Time
It had been one of the coldest winters Tennessee had experienced in quite a while. It was the winter of 1964 and temperatures had...
Is It Worth It?
With new grandbabies showing up in my household, you would never think that the granddaddy would be the one getting the vaccinations, but that...
The Closeness of a MRI
Each morning when I rise, I usually look out my bedroom window to check the day the good Lord has blessed me with. From...
Is Frosty on Your Roof Yet?
Maybe I'm just getting old, there is certainly no debate on that subject, but I feel like we skipped a month between October and...
No Jumping Off The Building Today
It is amazing these days the number of people who do not have common sense or what my grandfather called "walking around sense." I...
Lucky Grandkids
My grandchildren sure are lucky and the reason is because their Granddaddy is just about as big of a kid as they are when...
Aunt Sadie has a Yard Sign
On a beautiful Tennessee fall afternoon, I pulled in the long gravel driveway of Uncle Sid and Aunt Sadie's farm. Their white frame house,...
Harmonia Axyridis are Back and I’m Not Happy
It is October once again, and once again, I despise Asian lady beetles. For those of you who are not plagued by these impostures...
Get You A Sundrop Bottle
The other day as I waited in line at a traffic light, I noticed the car in front of me and the two beside...
September Equinox Starts It In Motion
I love this time of the year. September is slipping over the horizon and the month of October is the same as here. October...
Century Farms On Facebook
A few weeks back, I received an invitation to be the speaker for the Wilson County Fair Century Farm Luncheon. It was one of...
Is The Wallet A Lost Art
Some days, the news media finds it really difficult to come up with news. Of course, that is not always a bad thing, but...
Now Is Not Time To Take A Nap
Once again, we approach that date on the calendar that many of us will always remember as one when we experienced feelings of fear,...
Non-GMO Pledge Made Me Pick Another Spread
The other day as I pushed my grocery cart down the aisle of my favorite food store, I was stopped in my tracks as...
Wasps Are Building Like Crazy
The last holiday of the summer season is upon us and everyone will have to wait until Thanksgiving to get another one of those...
Where The Farm Waters Flow
On one of those surprising cool summer evenings we had recently, I took my "red-neck" golf cart out for a late evening drive around...
Mark Twain Is Still Quotable
Mark Twain is one individual whose writings and quotes I have always enjoyed, beginning at an early age. After all these years that his...
And You Still Can’t Make a Mater Saminch
Here we are once again in the glory days of homegrown maters and I'm still finding folks who can't make a mater saminch. I...
Watch Your Dog During Dog Days
As summertime begins to go into its hottest period of discomfort for southern man and beast alike, I'm reminded of the days when air...
What’s Over The Horizon?
For some reason, the month of July has always been special for me to take in the observation of the moon. No, I'm not...
Do You Know Who You Are
While sitting with a group of friends eating Mexican food recently, we got into a discussion of family names and birthdays. One had just...
Careful Near The Water
As summer's soaring temperatures bring out water-lovers to cool themselves by splashing about in local swimming holes, concern also increases about water safety. I...
President Adams Said Check Out The Firework Stands
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,...
Scratching Ain’t Polite
There's a story I heard the other day, over at Sewell's, about one of our Tennessee cousins having one of our other cousins from...
Time To Shake A Few Hands
It's my favorite time of the year, once again, when all the stores are filled with patriotic supplies, making red, white and blue the...
Mr. Ford Started All Of This
The other day as I filled-up my new 4-wheel drive, V6, campaign-retirement-good feeling pickup truck with ethanol blended fuel and watched the digital cost...
What Goes Around Comes Around
I have recently been attending budget hearings in my county to learn more about where our tax dollars go, and after you come out...
Dairy Numbers Short But “Udderly” Vital To Tennessee Economy
With National Dairy Month quickly approaching in June, a major celebration is planned in the Volunteer State, and it's been that way for a...
From The Backseat Of An Old Desoto
I have been spending a lot of time lately working in a pick-your-own berry patch located almost in the heart of one of Tennessee's...
The Day Is What You Make It
When a person retires, I'm told many people find themselves looking for things to do and wish that they had continued at the old...
Horses That Go Klippy Klop
Not long ago, I wrote about the selling of my family home and many of the memories that were stirred from that experience. Of...
Is It Really A Necessity Or Luxury
As today's economy becomes a major factor in how all of us plan for tomorrow, I just wonder if any of you have started...
What Winter Is It?
Once again, down at the store, the talk is centered on what kind of winter we are in the grips of, and the vote...
Celebrate Earth Day In Your Own Way
When you write a column on a weekly basis and it is the type of column that I usually write, very often you find...
He Walked On Water
With more than forty-four years on the job, which kept me in an automobile much of the time, I have spent a lot of...
Purple Hues of Henbit Return Again to Add to Spring’s Arrival
As I have been driving the back roads of Tennessee the last few days, I have noticed an interesting purple hue forming across the...
How Much Corn Can You Harvest In A Day
The only marketing concern that Tennessee farmers had in past years, when selling his crop or livestock, was the price he would receive down...
Keeping Time Down On The Farm
As everyone was "springing forward" recently, our state legislature was debating whether or not to take Tennessee out of the Daylight Saving Time routine,...
True That There Are No GMOs In Cheerios
Sure will be glad to see nice weather come back to the Volunteer State. These up and down polar vortex changes have just about...
Olympic Withdrawal
The other night as I sat down to enjoy some TV, I realized that I really miss not being able to see the Olympic...
From a Pole Wired to a Fence Post
I have to admit that during the winter months I am a TV watcher addict. Yes, it is true that I enjoy settling down...
Don’t forget the little things
Winter attempted to make a swipe into the hills and valleys of Tennessee during the week of Valentine's, and the people of the Volunteer...
Farm Bill Fiscally Responsible
The groundhog up in Pennsylvania saw his shadow, I understand, suggesting that we are looking at six more weeks of winter. Since the first...
Adjusting To Global Warming
I keep having people ask me if I have adjusted to retirement. Since it has only been just a month since I turned off...
Hand Washing Could Lead To Clean Air
I have heard all of my life that cleanliness is next to godliness. Those words have often been spoken by grandmothers, teachers, parents and...
It’s Time To Start Digging
Recently, I passed a church sign that had some really good words of wisdom lettered upon it. It said, "Don't be caught leaning on...
Cold Winter Air Brings on Clear Thinking
It was an afternoon after one of the TV news talk shows had discussed pretty negatively many of the items found in the national...
Important Find In Your Mailbox
On the first day that the mail ran for the New Year, when I opened my rusty old mailbox, I was pleasantly surprised with...
New Things Ahead For The New Year
Well, I'm finally going to do it. With the prospects of it happening, there were those who suggested it, others greeted it with happiness,...
Santy Claus and Farmers Could Be One and The Same
Christmas out on the Read All About It Farm continues to be a favorite holiday and one that seems to cause me to enjoy...
Attic Treasures As Valuable As The Pyramid’s
I recently had the task of cleaning out the attic at my parents' farm as we prepared to turn the house over to someone...
How About A Tennessee Christmas
It's beginning to look more like Christmas everyday. The neighborhood lawns have turned into what could be classified as a center for a source...
My Feeders Are Not A Deer’s McDonald’s
As a young boy walking the lanes of my grandparents' farm, I often heard the beautiful calls of a certain bird that seemed to...
Keep Your Ears And Eyes Open
Can you believe it has only been two years since we made a decision on who goes to the Legislature? Just like you, I...
Sorry Free Birds
I just can't believe the Christmas lights I'm already seeing. I saw a Christmas tree in a window on October the sixteenth! My Halloween...
Walking Around Sense
It is amazing these days the number of people who do not have common sense or what my grandfather called "walking around sense." It...
Do Geese And Worms Really Know About Winter
On the first day of November, I saw two large V-formations of geese extremely high in the sky headed south. Seeing their migration movement...
Reached The Age Of Government Signup
On this day that I write this column, I finally have reached the age of Medicare signup. I have too much invested already in...
Anybody Want To Run For Public Office
I don't know if you have ever tried to trace your ancestry, but it can get really interesting at times. A lot of people...
The Road We All Have To Travel
I've had the opportunity to live what some folks would call a "charmed life." I was born in a rural part of Tennessee on...
Sorghum Crop Helped By Rain
The rain this summer may have been a problem for those who were looking for a good pumpkin crop this fall or even a...
Lawyer And Farmer Debate Cow
Over the years, I have had the opportunity to travel this great state and visit our rural areas. One of my favorite stops is...
Hang-Ups On The Clothesline
It is sure amazing how things have changed around the old homestead these days. We have all gone to looking for ways to save...
Push 1 If You Wish To Punch Someone Out
During the recent rainy season we all have experienced lately, my phone landline service developed a leak, causing me to lose contact with the...
If The Elastic Is Good, No Reason To Buy New Ones
While walking through one of our fine shopping malls last weekend, I made some interesting observations on what has become of America, along with...
Following Procedure Depends On Who Has The Ball
Over in South Carolina, a few years ago, 200 catfish lost their lives. After careful investigation by local authorities and noticing that most of...
Learning From Fat Mice
The more I face change and attempt to explain it to others, the more I realize that wisdom and understanding are totally different things....
The Little Kid In You Wants To Go
A couple of few years back, I expressed my feelings about how much fair season and this time of the year means to me....
Bug Takes Going Green Too Far On Ash Trees
Just as I reported way back in August of 2010, that it looked like we had made it through the summer without the usual...
Slipping Off From Chores To Learn From The Best
The day after the Fourth of July, I spent the afternoon in our local theater watching a movie I had been waiting on for...
Giggin Has Hoppy Ending
During the years I spent in elementary and high school, each morning was begun with the entire class bowing our heads in prayer and...
What’s Up The Government’s Sleeve
If you have ever watched a magic act, somewhere during the performance the magician will pull a rabbit out of a hat or maybe...
Too Much Of A Good Thing
Who would have ever thought that come this time of the year, yards would be growing like mid-spring, gardens would have to be weeded...
Time To Stop Gogglin
Cheese pie is an old dish our family has enjoyed for years and Aunt Sadie's is guaranteed to stop up every artery you have....
The New Frontier Is Still Here
"...I stand here tonight facing west on what was once the last frontier. From the lands that stretch three thousand miles behind us, the...
Summer Means Going To The Farmers Market
As the summer days arrive, more and more people are making visits to their local farmers markets to sample fresh grown produce right from...