Piney was thinking back to the days of good presidents. As he drove the streets of Tampa, he remembered drives in Paris. Piney didn’t think he had ever met 12 drivers that he found more interesting than the Paris Embassy motor pool drivers in those old days. There were a dozen of them. 

I enjoyed spending the Labor Day holiday with my friend Shane as we continued our Monday tradition of dining at Ruby Tuesday’s and catching a movie at the Marquee Cinemas.  That particular day, we saw the new Vin Diesel science fiction film, Babylon A.D., which opened there the previous Friday.  During its opening weekend at the Wytheville theater, Babylon A.D. was greeted with a promotional event, which featured representatives from such area businesses as Game Stop, March of Dimes, Wythe County Public Library, All God’s Creatures Animal Sanctuary and the Bird Sanctuary.  Face painting, games, prizes and several other elements of family fun were also featured.

I heard about a couple not speaking to each other. The standoff went on for days with neither budging. When the man needed to catch a plane early the next morning, he placed a note beside his sleeping wife, “Please wake me when you leave for work.” He slept smugly, knowing she would be the one to break the silence. The next morning he woke late only to find a note on the nightstand. “Wake up, or you will miss your plane.”

Were my mother still alive today, on Wednesday, Sept. 10, she would turn 81 years old. Sadly, she passed away in April 2004. Although by then she had several health problems, her primary one was Alzheimer’s.

He was 102-years-old and wanted me to baptize him. Health troubles prohibited immersion, but that did not rule out baptism. I planned to sprinkle a small amount of water on his head, hoping that John the Baptist was not looking. Yet, before baptism, I wanted to talk to him about God. I wanted to know his story.

Hello my fellow Appalachian residents. Guess what? An article carried in the Bristol Herald-Courier, the daily sister paper of the Smyth County News & Messenger, on Aug. 27 contained a report released by the government. It seems there is wonderful news from our distinguished United States Census Bureau. At least, the agency seemed to think so. According to the recent release (reported by the Associated Press), median incomes are up in Appalachian. Of course, with the exception of Virginia, Maryland and New York (yes, a very tiny bit of New York lies in Appalachia), the median income is far below the national average, which is just over $50,000. Appalachia’s median income hovers around $39,000.

On Aug. 13 and 14, two walkers passed through Smyth County as part of a state-spanning stroll from the western tip of Virginia to the coast that is raising money for Hope Tree Family Services.
In September, local people will have an opportunity to walk for the organization but get back home in time for supper.

“What kind of people steal from a church?” Last week, after someone took a pallet of shingles from the church parking lot, I heard that question at least a dozen times. “What kind of people steal from a church?” The question assumes there is a particular kind of person who specializes in ecclesiastic crime.

My dear wife and her mother are both big gospel music fans. My mother-in-law even subscribes to a gospel singing magazine. There is a gospel music singer that my wife, Terry, likes very much. His name is Mark Bishop. He was originally a member of a family group known as The Bishops. However, he now is evidently a solo act. I don’t care for his style of gospel. It is more the style of bluegrass. If I want to hear gospel, I much prefer the big choirs that do Southern rhythm and blues gospel. 

Well, thought Piney and She Who Must Be Obeyed, the sub-tropics are at it again!