Since our middle son, Harris, began matriculating at Mercer University in our old stomping grounds of Macon, Ga., Carla and I have made several pilgrimages back to the scene of our courtship, marriage and early days as a family. Last Saturday, we made such a trip in the spring sunshine, enjoying a leisurely drive from … Continue reading Taking backroads
This week the Lilburn Wallaces will gather around our dining room table for a feast of turkey, dressing and all the fixins. I have committed to enjoying this day fully because I don’t know if 2023 will be the last time we enjoy our Thanksgiving this way. Traditions have a way of ending unintentionally or … Continue reading When traditions end
On Nov. 1, 2013, my father-in-law, Lanny Barron, was in an automobile accident on his way to his house in Sandersville from his family's farm outside of town. He died on Thanksgiving, Nov. 28. Today's essay is the eulogy I had the honor of delivering at Lanny's funeral. He and Cynthia would have been married … Continue reading Thoughts on Lanny
Jack is an old dog. To you and me he’s 16, but according to the Pedigree Dog Calculator, he’s the equivalent of an 80-year-old man. Jack has outlived his brother, Joe, by about 10 years. He’s outlived his best friend, my father-in-law, by three months now and counting. He’s an old dog, but he is … Continue reading New tricks
Hello, my name is Lance, and I have listening problem. This week I attended one of those four-hour workplace training sessions on emotional intelligence. It included an exercise on active listening. I was horrible. The humiliating experience caused me to reexamine a fundamental assumption about myself. Deep down, I believe that I have pretty good … Continue reading The lost art of listening
It wasn’t that long ago that a birthday was just that – a day. In the New South, however, we celebrate a person’s birthday for many, many days. I have a theory about why this is: It takes us longer to celebrate birthdays now because of geographic dispersion of family, over-stuffed schedules and the vicious … Continue reading More than a day
I’ll eat just about anything you can put on a plate, but I won’t admire just any plate you can put on a wall. Those plates must be historic. And Southern. And tell a story. When my wife of 15 years and I were concocting our wedding registry, (OK, let me restate that more accurately: … Continue reading Can I have a second helping of home décor?
When we hit the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge from Charleston into Mount Pleasant the boys stopped watching Harry Potter on our minivan’s built-in DVD player. From the span over the Cooper River we could see the U.S.S. Yorktown, parked at Patriots Point. It would be our home for a night, and it was lit impressively, … Continue reading Connecting with the past
Everybody needs a farm. Not to make a living. That’s one of the hardest things anyone can do with his or her life. No, I think people need a farm, even if they don’t own it, to go and learn how to live. The lessons there are simple, profound and unavoidable. Last Saturday we visited … Continue reading Everything I Need to Know I’m Learning on the Farm
A few weeks ago, Carla and I took the boys to see her parents in Sandersville. A welcomed retreat from the suburbs to small town Southern life, these trips are especially meaningful to the boys. In Sandersville, they get to enjoy life in a different way. On this particular visit, Nanny and Poppy had a … Continue reading Bottle fed
New South Essays 