Homecoming weekend at WCU set for Nov. 7-8
A packed slate of weekend events is on tap as Western Carolina University rolls out the welcome mat for alumni and friends to return to campus Nov. 7-8 for Homecoming 2025, including a parade and party in the university’s adopted hometown of Sylva.
This must be the place: ‘Little red wagon, little red bike, I ain’t no monkey, but I know what I like’
The absurdity of life, eh?
I’m just sitting here right now at the local laundromat in West Waynesville. Simply observing and reflecting on gratitude, for nothing and everything, and everything in-between. Families sit quietly around me awaiting the wash cycle to end. It’s Sunday morning. Back to work by this time tomorrow. Spend your free time cleaning your clothes.
A love letter to friends across the aisle
Dear friend,
We are living in tumultuous times, and I’m writing to say I am sorry. I know I’ve done and said things that hurt you, that made you furrow your brow in confusion, wondering if you ever knew me at all. I know you’ve rolled your eyes at something politically-slanted I’ve posted on social media. To be honest, your words and posts have conjured the same reactions for me.
This must be the place: ‘You can capture every instant, live your life like it’s a stage’
It was nearing midnight last Saturday when I found myself in a circle of friends in the small, cozy sitting nook between the front door and the bar counter of The Scotsman in Waynesville.
This must be the place: ‘Subway steam like silhouettes in dreams’
Last Thursday, it was decided to go bowling. Galaxy Lanes & Games on the outskirts of downtown Sylva, in a somewhat dormant shopping plaza buffering the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway and greater Jackson County.
This must be the place: ‘I cherish my intercontinental friendships, we talk it over continental breakfast’
The smart phone dinged incessantly early this morning ‘round 8 a.m. at my small Waynesville apartment. Social media notifications and text messages. Then came the phone calls from my mother and father way up in the North Country. It’s my 39th birthday.
Times have changed, and that’s a good thing
As an adolescent male in the 1970s, you didn’t tell your other male friends you loved them, not at that time, not like the hugs and “love you brother” that is so common today. Just didn’t happen, at least not in the Southern military town of my childhood.
This must be the place: Ode to Anna Marie, ode to the kids of Smith Street (and beyond)
Stepping outside the small log cabin, I took a moment to collect my thoughts. Vast farm fields and ancient dirt in the rural countryside outside of Goldsboro, the cool air of an impending fall was felt with a sense of relief in a place where heat and humidity reign supreme.
