Don’t Get Above Your Raisin’: Remembering Dolly Parton

Don’t Get Above Your Raisin’: Remembering Dolly Parton

Southerners are known for our ability to turn a phrase. We have certain sayings and expressions. Many have made their way into the larger culture. “Bless your heart.” “Lord willing and the creek don’t rise.” “He’s slower than molasses.” I know such things intimately....
The Time for Joy

The Time for Joy

Joy is a word you don’t hear much anymore. Talk of it in recent years feels almost foreign. My tongue needs practice to form it. I believe it’s easy to feel this way when you wake daily in a country where an administration seems hell-bent on overthrowing the last...
In Lieu of Flowers

In Lieu of Flowers

Tuesday was a regular day for me. They usually are.  Tuesdays on my calendar are days when things have to get done and put away, like cleaning dishes. I have staff meetings on Tuesdays. I mess around and have a third cup of coffee. My kids demand tacos. It’s a rinse,...
Diner Diaries | Kyle Caudle

Diner Diaries | Kyle Caudle

  A conversation with musician Kyle Caudle over coffee and livermush explores the ties of home, creativity, and why diners may offer lessons the church has forgotten.  “Places like this make me feel a little uncomfortable.” We were inside the sanctuary of a rural...
What He Had Left

What He Had Left

Every Sunday, I get to stand in front of people and tell a story. Some are long, some are short. Some are funny; some can make the eyes a bit misty. A few are good enough for folks to remember. Most are single-serving, like the tiny coffee creamers found at a...