by Christine | Aug 26, 2012 | Welcome Column
A couple weeks ago I sang for the funeral service of a friend. His wife had requested the song, “In the Garden,” a perennial favorite for memorials. My friend had been a rice grower, had a large orchard of fruits and nuts, and always had a productive vegetable and...
by Christine | Sep 10, 2010 | Welcome Column
And it was Saturday morning, and I was about twenty miles west of Willows when the asphault ended and this gravel road started up the side of the mountain and my brakes are three days from replacement and I’ve got a Kia van that is comfortable in the city but ain’t...
by Christine | Oct 3, 2010 | Welcome Column
I think my wife was sick of it, as were my colleagues at work…or any one else who came into contact with me on a regular basis. Through the three or so weeks leading up to the Hobbs Grove Bluegrass Festival, I had developed a one-track mind, obsessed with the...
by Christine | Jul 10, 2013 | Welcome Column
It must be just the right time of year for pears. The past few weeks I have included a pear in my lunch every day, and they are wonderful! They’re sweet, but not too sweet – there’s a duskiness “behind” the sweetness. They have a fruity aroma that is not cloying, and...
by Christine | Sep 21, 2011 | Welcome Column
There are many questions in the universe. Some get answered, but sadly, most do not. Since preoccupation with unanswered questions can be very distracting, and by extension, diminish the quality of the life for those so preoccupied, I would like to tap into my inner...
by Christine | Mar 19, 2017 | Welcome Column
One the favorite columns I wrote was actually my inaugural column. I tried to fold in bluegrass, white water kayaking, and even hacky sack into the piece, and attempted to create the image of a bluegrass rave. The latter never really took off in the American english...
by Christine | Jul 4, 2005 | Welcome Column
My wife, Lynn, believes that since I began writing this daily column, I’ve become a more psychologically balanced person. Happier, less crazy and neurotic. Her theory is that I unconsciously use the little stories that I write as a sort of web-based confessional....
by Christine | Aug 31, 2011 | Welcome Column
Arthur C. Clarke’s Third Law states “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” We have witnessed this in this history both ancient and recent as societies at disparate levels of technology collide. The Native Americans surely thought the...
by Christine | May 13, 2019 | Welcome Column
A few of you out there may know that I am a St. Louis Cardinals fan. While spending a nice Saturday afternoon watching the ball game, I feel an eerily familiar voice during the commercials: It’s Andy Falco. Along with the phenomenon of my two great joys in life...
by Christine | Apr 2, 2012 | Welcome Column
Dear friends, Last month Marty Varner stepped in to help with my monthly welcome column, delivering his unique perspective on the challenging new album by the Punch Brothers. Since then the young man has got his grubby mitts on the latest release from one of the other...
