The second sentence of the newspaper article states the issue more clearly than anything I could say, “...yard sale signs—a recurring source of tension between town residents and town officials.“  With town residents overwhelmingly in favor of allowing yard sales, we ask our town officials why they are doing this—and there has been no cogent answer.

    They left his ego to die at the 18th hole.  His 40 or so handicap did not save him from the blitz staged by the Florida Testerman Mafia.  Because they were visiting kin on holiday, he thought they would be kinder but there weren’t.  They aced him on ice.

I most remember him as the uncle who wanted to cut my thumbs off with a fingernail clipper as I stood in my great-grandfather’s kitchen waiting for the ice cream man.
My youngest son will remember him as the man who brought him Subway sandwiches and taught him to play checkers.

“You know everything happens for a reason.”
I heard what the tire-store clerk said, but it did not register. My mind was on my flat tire, which turned out to also be a ruined tire. The blowout had occurred more than 150 miles from home and I was still almost 100 miles from my destination. I was going to be late.

Writing a column is not as easy as it may look, especially when you’ve been doing it weekly for several years. Sometimes there just isn’t much interesting going on about which you wish to have your opinion known. Sometimes you may feel like you’ve covered almost every single idea you’ve had for a column. But, the worst case scenario is the proverbial “writer’s block.” This is a genuinely real malady. Unfortunately, when I started this particular column, I was struck down by this very difficulty.

Piney had finished a series of eight operations at the Veterans Administration and wanted, with She Who Must Be Obeyed, to tell all veterans how lucky they were to have access to the Veterans Administration medical system.

There’s good news—though not on the surface of things.
You’ve likely heard that Southwest Virginia’s water table is gradually dropping beneath our feet, that many older wells are running dry, springs and creeks are low, Smith Mountain Lake residents and those downstream are debating over who should get the water, and Lynchburg is having to tap the James River, earlier than usual this year, because its Pedlar Reservoir is 141 inches below the spillway.

Greetings from Hickory Ridge. I went to my niece’s baby shower over the weekend. Each and every guest brought a book, or books, to start a library for the baby who is expected in just five weeks.
What a neat idea! In addition to all of the receiving blankets, onesies, monitors, bath supplies and all the other hundred and one necessary items for the new baby, this baby will have wonderful books to read from the very beginning. This is an idea whose time has come. Note to everyone who is planning a baby shower.

As a small child, I can remember watching The Golden Girls on television.  Even though I did not understand the dialogue of the show at that time, I still laughed out loud at the way it was delivered.  My favorite character was Sophia Petrillo, the show’s matriarch.  Played by Estelle Getty, I identified most with her character from even my earliest days, probably because I saw a lot of the older members of my family in her.  I continued watching this show during its original seven year run and beyond thanks to reruns.  By the time I was old enough to fully understand the show’s concept, my appreciation for The Golden Girls and especially Estelle Getty’s performance only increased.  She will always been my favorite character in the show, as I think is the consensus of most every fan of The Golden Girls worldwide.  Her other three cast mates have even admitted that Sophia was their favorite character. 

They were whooping it up at the Fast Lane Saloon.  Owlhead Kincer sat at the piano banging out boogie woogie.  Too Tall Tom strummed a guitar while Hairbreath Harry Akers played the fiddle.  Lori Meadows shook a tambourine as she danced on the tabletops.