Opinion

In my home state of Tennessee, turkey season starts on April 12th. For years the opening dates were always the last Saturday in March. But as the number of birds started to decline, the game commission changed the dates. While there were probably several reasons, I think one of the main ones was to let…

Recently, I met a man who had been bitten by a black widow spider and his experience was not a pleasant one. He had joint pain, stomach cramps and a loss of energy for weeks but he obviously survived it. When I was a kid, we heard a lot about the poisonous black widow but…

When I married my high school sweetheart in the early 70s, Mom gave me a book of easy recipes that were as familiar as her smile. While she was not a gourmet cook, Mom knew how to feed a big family with a little budget.

Deer give us a great example of how patterns change according to one’s needs. Right now, in many parts of the country, we are seeing a changing pattern. I always break these down into three periods; early spring through late summer, late summer through fall, and winter. Let me explain. In the early spring through…

This is not a column about the invasion of Rome by barbarians two thousand years ago nor the modern day takeover of RJR Nabisco by corporate “barbarians”; instead, it is a true story about Russian soldiers—infantry grunts, if you will– attempting to take control of two Ukrainian nuclear power plants during their invasion of Ukraine…

I have a giant jar of pennies on my bookshelf. The coins on the bottom have been in there for several years, and new ones go in regularly. The jar has a heft to it; whenever I consider cashing them in, I lift the jar, feel the weight, and put it back down. Too much…

I remember the last time I came back from a river-fishing trip with a friend. It was a beautiful morning to be on the water. The early morning, during the summer, is usually the best because the heat really picks up about mid-morning.

I found a warmer day to cruise a property that I hunt. While I initially went to look for deer sheds, I really just needed to get outside and take in anything that was not man made. But this time of year, it’s really more than that. During deer season, hunters normally sit still in…

In today’s world of unending distraction, it may be time to give ourselves a day off. How about we shut things down again on Sundays? The simplicity of Sundays was a Godsend to our hearts. We used to do it without starving or dying from boredom. We looked forward to it. Every day but Sunday…

I wrote a column recently about Annie’s horse adventure in Colorado when she and Libby, her niece, were there to find a horse for Libby and Annie ended up buying 14 registered Appaloosa mares on the spot and driving them back to Illinois.   (Technically, these horses were “fillies” at that point in their lives,…