Old memories in unusual places
By Bill Shepard Slingshots, iron-piles and a place called the Thicket! What do these three have in common? Read on … I can’t tell if it is the cold and drizzly days of winter that are upon us that have put me into the mood for this article or if it is just an old man, recalling some of his childhood memories. It really doesn’t take much to send me back into time, like the other day when I visited the doctor’s office for a routine...
The dignity found in abandonment
By Tom Poland As you drive from here to there in a rush, how many times have you turned around to stop at an abandoned store? I do that a lot. The older I get, the less I hurry, and being in a hurry on the back roads just doesn’t happen for me. I take the back roads to pay homage to those who came before us and to save my sanity in this crazed mad rush of a world. Returning from a book event in Greenville a few days ago I passed a...
Living on Purpose: Can God do the impossible?
By Bill Holland The biblical account of Abraham and Sarah having a baby has been cherished throughout the ages and is familiar with those who probably first heard it as a child in Sunday school. The concept of a man and woman having a child together does not sound overly unusual until we consider that Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90. We find the story in Genesis chapters 17 and 18 and it reveals how God planned to establish a...
The search goes on
Editor’s note: This is a reprint of a Bill Shepard column that ran a year ago. By Bill Shepard The search for truth goes on! The hounds of Washington are hot on the trail! Some of us are beginning to ask, how long, how long, how long? Just about the time I get the feeling that the hunt is winding down, the hounds strike another trail and the hunt goes on. Just like my brother always said, once a good hound strikes a trail, it is hard...
Doodling in the dust
By Tom Poland Homes perch on rock piers in a forgotten land called Abandonment, but as that old Elton John song goes, they’re still standing. Now modern homes with closed-in crawl spaces look more together, but they deny kids fun. You see, yesteryear’s dusty crawl spaces served as a playground. I’d get on my knees and crawl around looking for doodlebugs, saying, “Doodlebug, doodlebug, your house is on fire,” while twisting a grass...
Op-ed: Remembering a journalist
He didn’t like to fly, but he traveled the world, missing the South always.