School’s out for the summer. Now what? One thing is for sure: sitting around doing nothing is not an option. Summer is play time. It seems that in the New South, everyone has somewhere to go … all the time. Our schedules don't allow for plain ol’ downtime. You remember that, right? Get-up-at-11-stay-in-your-pajamas-watch-TV-barely-move-off-the-sofa-all-day-kind-of-lazy? Those days … Continue reading No more pencils, no more books
Childhood obesity. Video games. Television. Air quality. Bugs. Weather. There are lots of circumstances that conspire against children playing outdoors these days, so much so that getting kids outside is one of the biggest challenges of parenting in the New South. Long gone are the days when barefoot children hit the screen door after breakfast and … Continue reading Just a swingin’
In the South – old or new – we love our mothers. It’s the right thing to do, and even in those rare circumstances when it may be difficult, a child’s bond with his or her mother lasts a lifetime. As I age my relationship is changing with my mom. It is growing and deepening … Continue reading What I love about Mom
Yesterday marked the 15th anniversary of the day Carla Lynn Barron became my wife. Emily Post would tell me to celebrate the occasion with a gift of crystal and an arrangement of roses. Somehow, that just doesn’t seem to fit. Rather than blindly opting for tradition – a very “Old South” thing to do – … Continue reading Fifteen years and counting
New South Essays 