In 2023, Sears, the retail giant of days gone by, closed its last brick and mortar store in North Carolina. Wikipedia reports: “As of December 2024, there were eight Sears stores remaining, with seven in the mainland U.S. and one location in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. The company’s U.S. website, Sears.com, remains active […]
Colonoscopy Cheekiness – Round 2
I composed the article below after my fifth colonoscopy in 2018, and I have had #6 since then with additional findings. That keeps me on the “high risk” list and grants me the privilege of returning about every 3 years to repeat the procedure. Given that a much younger acquaintance (mid-thirties) recently had colonoscopy #1 […]
The Upward Focused Life
I prefer to work from lists, usually hand-written, though sometimes typed into a file on my desktop computer or even, on some occasions, on my iPhone. Lists help me orchestrate some degree of planning as to how I hope to invest the fresh load of hours that arrived with the morning dew. No plan and […]
God Loves Sprinkles
Very near to our home sits the North Carolina State Howling Cow Dairy Education Center and Creamery. We catch the unmistakable aroma of cows as we drive through the fields to our home, and, on many mornings in the garden, the breeze treats me to the same experience. Think of inhaling a fragrant lung-full at […]
Facets of Manhood: Polishing Our Charact...
We are pleased to announce the release of the latest book from John W Nichols, Facets of Manhood: Polishing Our Character, available now from Lulu or Amazon. An Ebook will be coming soon for those who prefer to read in that manner. John wrote this book to pass along life advice to up and coming […]
The Unknown Camellia
Shawn and I were invited to accompany some extraordinary gardeners to a nursery open house where we enjoyed free access to roam the plant houses and choose our favorites. The nursery, Camellia Forest Nursery, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina is the source for all things camellia. While its sales are mostly online, the nursery holds […]