I recently saw a funny political sign that said, “Presidents are temporary, Grateful Dead is forever.” Did you know that less than one-percent of Americans can name every U.S. president? That being said, I bet anyone you stop on the street can name a musician or song that’s contributed something powerful to one’s life. 

By Martin Dyckman • Guest Columnist | During the Spanish Civil War, which the Fascists won, one of their generals said there was a “fifth column” inside Madrid that would capture the capital before any of their four advancing formations could reach the city. Ever since, the phrase has stood for any group of disloyal people aiming to subvert their own country.

How does one best express gratitude?

That thought kept coming up as I sat down to write a column for this week’s paper. After the rush of a holiday season that was so different, I found myself in our quiet mountain house on an unseasonably warm and sunny day pondering the year to come with more than a little excitement. This is going to be another memorable year, and I can’t wait to push forward.

By Heather Hyatt Packer • Guest Columnist | There’s a lot of discussion about freedom, rights and patriotism when discussing coronavirus restrictions. Americans today have no idea what it means to make sacrifices for the greater good nor do they seem interested. We’re in the throes of a national crisis. Coronavirus is very real. Many in our community have lost their lives or face long-term health problems. Yet a large number of residents are still in denial, though I’m not sure it’s denial. It’s defiance.

This year has prompted a reckoning unlike any in memory, so we’re all looking to put a bow on 2020 and call it done, right? 

In February 2020, I was in New York City attending a children’s book writing conference. My boyfriend attended the conference with me. We both remember watching CNN while in New York as the journalists talked about a new mysterious virus attacking China but also making its way into other parts of the world. The feeling we had was ominous. It’s no secret that we’re all globally connected. We knew the germ would infiltrate America. We just didn’t know what that would mean. 

By Jesse Lee Dunlap • Guest Columnist | As someone whose politics are centered on bodily autonomy, I sympathize with folks who are against forced vaccinations. I bristle at anything that encroaches on a person’s individual freedoms — restrictions on abortions, prohibition, gun laws, etc. — any mandate, especially any mandate from the government, especially from the American government, which has a long history of using “medicine” to harm black, indigenous, and poor people. We all have ample reason to be cynical and skeptical of the American healthcare system, and no one should be ridiculed for questioning what is in a vaccine. This stuff is going right into your body. It is normal and prudent to question what goes in your body.    

By Erick Mendez • Guest Columnist | According to the U.S. House records, at 25 years old, Madison Cawthorn — who will represent the 11th District and Western North Carolina — will become the youngest elected member of Congress in history. Cawthorn has styled himself as a leader of a new generation of conservatives, unafraid to criticize the Republican Party; however, Cawthorn has adopted President Trump’s tactics, particularly in basing his candidacy on a foundation of lies, only further confirming Cawthorn’s intentions as a sycophant to Trump’s agenda. As a native Western North Carolinian and a member of Generation Z, I felt compelled to voice my concerns against the elected congressman representing my hometown nestled in the heart of these Blue Ridge Mountains.

 “… one of the most significant facts about us may finally be that we all begin with the natural equipment to live a thousand kinds of life but end in the end having lived only one.” — The Interpretation of Cultures, by Clifford Geertz

How do we get from here to there, from youthful idealism, optimism and boundless energy where the whole world is your oyster to a rewarding life? Some people  know right from the start where they want to go and what they want to be, but for lot of others, me included, it was a process, a step forward and one backward, but always moving. Do you adventure or buckle down, go back to school or learn life lessons? Stay in a relationship or move on?

Apple was once a small business that was started in a garage by two college dropouts. It was the pipe dream of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak to make computers small enough to fit in people’s homes or offices. We all know how the story ended, but it’s important to remember how it began.