All in Columns
October first is just around the corner and that means the countdown is on for Halloween!! Children of all ages look forward to the time honored tradition of wearing a great costume and trick-or-treating! There is no excitement quite like coming home with a bag full of free candy, but it is still important to keep your kids safe and the inevitable “sugar rush” manageable.
Katharine Lee Bates wrote these words to "America the Beautiful." O beautiful for spacious skies. For amber waves of grain. For purple mountain majesties. Above the fruited plain. America. America. God shed his grace on thee. And crown thy good. With brotherhood. From sea to shining sea
North Carolina ranks 7th in the US in apple production and is home to over 9,000 bearing acres of apple orchards equaling over 200 commercial apple operations. There are thousands of apple varieties grown across the United State but there are 4 major varieties grown here in North Carolina, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Rome Beauty and Galas.
When my former Sunday School teacher was in a Rehabilitative Assisted Living Center, I visited her to sit and chat for a little while. As we drove to Greenville, my sister and I pondered whether Mrs. Nannie Best-Hargett would recognize us as adults.
In the last Faith Forward column, we began to talk about the single way to healing and wholeness when we’ve been wronged or unjustly treated: forgiveness. You can access that here [insert link]
No matter which team you are cheering for, don’t let the absence of a trip to the stadium stop you from cooking up a win worthy tailgate spread. You will always come out a winner while serving up delicious food and drink for tailgating at home or at the stadium.
On a recent Saturday morning I talked to a good friend who downright lifted my faith by every sentence. You've heard the old saying that if you squeeze a sponge, what it is filled with comes out.
Sweet, juicy, and crunchy, it’s hard to think of a fruit that provides the unique goodness of a fresh fig. A fig's unique flavor makes it a wonderful treat all on its own, but when added to a recipe, the results can be very tasty.
When I was required to take the swimming test as an incoming Freshman at UNC-Chapel Hill in 1972, I was encouraged to learn lifesaving techniques. Now decades later, I was taught another life-saving strategy in an overdose awareness seminar I was invited to cover.
We’ve all lived the scenario: someone wrongs you, and it wounds you or makes you angry. Maybe you’re cut off in traffic, or cut out of a deal. Maybe its gossip or lies. Maybe its once, maybe its repeated: think of all the unjust wounds suffered by someone who is abused.
Digitally archived land records have recently come to light that unequivocally confirm that the settlement of the Bucklesberry area began in the early 1700s. A total of 131 deeds and surveys dated 1729 to 1759 prove Bucklesberry was opened for colonization fully a century before the traditionally held year of 1825.
Fall is the time to welcome juicy, sweet pears to your farm markets, and turn this healthy fruit in hot crisps, flakey pies, and hearty salads. Generally, pears are in season in Eastern North Carolina from about August to October. If you have a pear tree in your yard or on your farm, cherish it. The weight of the fruit combined with the strong winds brought in by hurricanes and other storms, can really do some damage pear trees, especially aging ones.
Peanuts are currently being harvested and if you are lucky enough to be able to snag some fresh green peanuts, you are lucky. Did you know that North Carolina farmers, produce approximately 102,666 planted acres of peanuts, which equals about 441 million pounds?
I received a text from a friend on Wednesday that posed a disturbing question: “Hi Mike, can this be true? Almost half of all homeless are foster kids who aged out of the system?”
Can’t you always envision a fresh bright pink slice of watermelon whenever you think of summer?? There are hundreds of varieties of watermelon across the country, my favorite this summer has been the Black Jack, beautifully red, seedless and the perfect size! Growing in popularity and this summer’s star has been the very sweet yellow watermelon.
As parents, our job is to help “grow our kids up.” We focus on sleep, food, school, athletics, homework so they can grow strong, advance through life.
As I was looking through some of my old columns, I found one from 24 years ago on the subject of – drum roll – artificial intelligence. The column addressed one critic’s response to the film: “A.I. – Artificial Intelligence.” Bart Kosko, then a world-renowned expert in the field of artificial intelligence, attacked the film not for its plodding plot or bleak vision of the cruelty of human against defenseless robotic creatures. Instead, Kosko makes several assertions based on what seemed fuzzy logic at best.
National Farmers Market Week, established 26 years ago, is celebrated each year during the first full week of August, August 3rd – 9th, 2025. This annual celebration was established by the National Farmers Market Coalition to highlight the vital role farmers markets play in the nation’s food systems.
A recent study identified 131 patents and surveys archived at NClandgrants.com for tracts of land geographically located in the greater Bucklesberry area of Lenoir County. Dated 1729 to 1759, these records named 92 settlers that represented 64 surnames, proving the settlement of Bucklesberry began long before 1825, the year it was previously purported to have been opened up for colonization.
Okra is either one of those vegetables that you love or you simply love to hate. Known for its scrubby texture when overcooked, okra is actually crunchy, crisp, and absolutely delicious when handled properly.
