When my Darling Beloved assembled an amazing itinerary for a four-night stay in New York City for our youngest's spring break, I expected a few of its features: Spending quality time away from work on a family adventure. Six Broadway shows in four days. Colder temperatures than I was used to in Atlanta this early … Continue reading A walk in the park
When is the best time to book a beach trip? It’s a trick question. The answer is any time. As has been well documented in this space, our family takes a beach trip each summer. For 20 of the past 21 years we’ve been to Santa Rosa Beach on 30A along the Gulf Coast of … Continue reading Wanna get away?
If snow falls and ice coats the streets but you weren’t planning on leaving your house anyway, does it count as a snow day? The majority of America will experience Winter Storm Fern this weekend, and by the time you read this, you may have already been beset with arctic temperatures, snow, ice, sleet, and … Continue reading Weekend snowdays
In the New South, we have so many choices on where to eat out, my Darling Beloved and I resort to the process of elimination, filtering by geography to narrow our voluminous choices. It goes something like this: Me: What do you want to go for dinner tonight? DB: I don’t care. You pick a … Continue reading Get thee to a ‘meat and three’
At the risk of sounding like a “Get off my lawn!” old person, I can’t help but marvel at how technological failures can ruin a customer experience. As I descend (ascend?) into “Get off my lawn!” maturity, I have noted a steep decline in customer service in all facets of life. Perhaps you have as … Continue reading Technology-driven customer service ineptitude
Security codes aren’t new, but I’ve had my fill of them in recent weeks. Their prevalence in the workplace has grown exponentially in the past few decades, a fact I felt acutely during my recent job transition. Coming up with new passwords for everything from logging onto my computer to setting up my medical insurance … Continue reading Unlocking the vacation code
Among my many sayings our boys have begun to catalog is this simple proverb: “The anticipation of a thing is often better than the thing itself.” I know, deep, right? I did not originate this proverb nor was I the first to discover the psychological condition from whence it emerges. But for many years, I … Continue reading Vacation anticipation
In a time before memory, decisions were made that caused the first weekend in May to fill to overflowing each year. It’s particularly acute this year as we try to squeeze in our 28th wedding anniversary, our middle child’s 20th birthday, moving said child back home for the summer from college and working commencement for … Continue reading Celebrating all the things all at once
A coffee bean’s life ends violently. The ripened coffee cherry is plucked from a tree. Its remains are processed either with a fermented liquid or in the sun. The outer layers of peel and parchment are stripped away, baring its inner bean. That bean is roasted (over roasted if it's sold by Starbucks) and ultimately … Continue reading Special delivery
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
New South Essays 