Opinion

 

Working together to raise good conversationalists

Recently, I was asked to speak to a leadership class at Tuscola High School and although flattered, I wondered if I was the best candidate for this experience.

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Humans are entirely unworthy of our dogs

We hoped he’d die in his sleep, that we’d find him curled up in the bed in that old, familiar way, having slipped as comfortably and naturally from this dimension to the next as a river flows into the sea. 

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Coming down from the mountain

This past weekend, I served as a cabin leader for Winter Retreat, an annual youth event hosted by First United Methodist Church.

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Here’s to being woke rather than a MAGA

Several months ago, I was having lunch with a friend and the topic of politics came up, specifically how bitterly polarized and angry the country has become in the last ten years. 

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Comment

 

This conservative says it’s OK to disagree

I wish to respond in a general way to the two columns on the Opinion page of the Dec. 27-Jan 2024 edition of The Smoky Mountain News — to Scott McLeod’s and to guest columnist Rob Schofield’s. 

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We’re the lucky ones; we live here

As I think ahead to 2024, I can’t help but feel so lucky to live here, in these mountains. 

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Leaning into the momentum of a new year

I love the energy surrounding a new year. Why are beginnings so enchanting? Perhaps it’s the hope and anticipation of the unknown or maybe an open opportunity to shed old habits, behaviors and beliefs that are no longer serving us.

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A lot to look forward to in 2024

If 2024 were a table laid out before you, how would you imagine it: a beautiful, feast-laden smorgasbord of rich and tasty dishes with succulent sides, or an after-dinner wreck piled high with crusted up dirty dishes, overturned wine glasses and already eaten carcasses of dead birds and picked-over porcine bones? 

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All different, all the same, all over again

Once upon a Christmas, our children came creeping down the stairs before dawn like little burglars.

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