Life in These United States

Browsing All posts tagged under »Life in These United States«

The Wizard of Is

June 9, 2021

Many of you will remember seeing the movie about The Wizard of Oz. I know I am dating myself and will probably eliminate at least half of my readers. Look it up in Wikipedia. At the end of the movie Alice discovers a wizard behind a curtain who is manipulating everything, a wonderful old happy […]

Apartment Living, Dumpster Diving, and the Heiress

September 14, 2017

After a fire destroyed our home last January, we moved to our RV for a week or so, and then to an apartment. In case you have been a homeowner for long time and forgotten, apartment living is somewhat different. You’re not protected from your neighbors by trees and shrubs and walls, quietly minding your […]

It’s the Rule

November 29, 2016

Not too long ago I traveled to a conference on a Dominican friar, Bartolome de las Casas, the great defender of American Indians in the face of the Spanish conquest. I had to go through security of course at the Birmingham Airport. As usual, I felt like a pack animal. I carried my laptop and […]

Reversing the Fall of the Empire

November 5, 2016

Here’s a snippet of truth I’d like us all to consider. Our American nation is going south similarly to what brought down the Roman Empire in the ancient world. It is reversible, but to do so we have to exercise both wisdom and discipline. There are a lot of signposts to read. Today let’s just […]

Repent! Jesus is Coming!

October 15, 2016

If you drive through Cottondale, as I do on occasional trips to Birmingham, there is a guy standing by the side of the road with his sign, “Repent!” And I think it adds, “Jesus is Coming,” or “The End is Near” or something along those lines. I guess the range of reactions is from “that […]

The Great Awakenings

October 15, 2016

Last week we mentioned seeing the man by the side of the highway in Cottondale with his sign “Repent!” I suggested that we are all heirs or descendants, in one form or another of his message. We may think he’s nuts, or, conversely, we may think he’s the Cottondale prophet. Or, perhaps we are just […]

Mining in the Mountains

September 4, 2016

One of guys working at the Mason’s Ruby and Sapphire Gem Mine, a thin mountain man, with lots of beard and tattoos, slipped up on past the water slues with a pistol hanging from his hand. They guy weighed maybe 97 pounds, soaking wet, and gave new meaning to wiry. A cigarette hung from his […]