My friend Bill Shermer, a source of wit and wisdom, described the tirade a distraught woman poured out upon the circulation manager of the local newspaper. After the onslaught, her question was quite simple, “Why have you not delivered my Sunday paper?”

As a warning to readers, it’s important to acknowledge that animals were harmed in the gathering of material for this column. A crustacean met an untimely end, and a black lab, I hope, learned a valuable lesson. Well, that last part is more wishful than realistic. Despite multiple encounters, the 3-year-old hasn’t even learned that skunks have the power to make him and his owners miserable for days.

This Saturday afternoon, for a while at least, the sun will shine bright, as many Americans will be native sons and daughters of Kentucky regardless of their place of birth. Men will be Kentucky colonels, women will be Kentucky ladies and the air will fill with strains of “My Old Kentucky Home,” played by the University of Louisville Marching Band (singing accompaniment by most of the fans both in the stands and the TV audience) when for the 133rd time, the Kentucky Derby will take place.

We live in paradise. I noticed it on May Day, songbirds and creekbirds flitting through my little woods, butterflies floating over the flowers, fat bumblebees bumping clumsily into each other through the blooming bushes.

Fans of country music in general and the Carter Family in particular will want to see Barter Theatre’s “Keep on the Sunny Side” during the month of May.  Written by Doug Pote, it is the most-requested Barter show.

Readings spanned subjects ranging from love and death to farming and tea drinking.

A Floyd County business now in its third year fills a need for in-home care and support for caregivers.

He sometimes – OK most times – doesn’t know when to run. And when he’s on second forget it. 

There are winners, and there are Nate, Mark and Tommy.

If you were looking for an extensive collection of Civil War memorabilia, you probably wouldn’t look in a clothing store in the small town of Woodlawn.