I mentioned last week that it is festival season in our area and ENan and I love a good festival!  On Saturday we headed up the road to Wilson, NC for the Whirligig Festival.  I know, you are probably thinking, “What in the world is a whirligig and why would someone name a festival for … Continue reading Move

Halloween is a major event in the little town of Wallace, where ENan and I live, and our neighborhood is especially popular on Halloween night.  We had to turn out the lights and hide in the back of the house after we “treated” 300 ghosts, goblins, and ninjas this week. Halloween is somewhat of a … Continue reading Stranger Things

It’s festival season for many of the communities in southeastern North Carolina.  There is the Spot Festival, the Oyster Festival, the Festival by the Sea, and even the Poultry Jubilee. Last weekend was the Autumn with Topsail Festival in Topsail Beach (pronounced Topsul by locals around here.)  Autumn with Topsail means two days of good … Continue reading Handiwork

Do you know the official state beverage of Maine?  Well, you probably do now because of the photo above.  Did you know that states have an official beverage?  It’s true.  Thirty of our 50 states have an official beverage, ranging from milk (North Carolina) to whiskey (Alabama). I had never heard of Moxie prior to … Continue reading Peculiar

One day last week, ENan and I were eating lunch on our back porch when we heard some loud squawking going on.  We looked out onto our deck and saw two small birds chasing each other back and forth, all the while chirping loudly.  Because we don’t speak bird, we couldn’t tell if their conversation … Continue reading Nest

As Minister to Senior Adults, I get to hang out with some of the “funnest” people.  Generally speaking, the senior adults I work with are funny, refreshingly honest, grateful, full of life experiences, and are willing to try anything new! Recently I was asked to teach one of the “well-seasoned” Sunday School classes at our … Continue reading Church

Every year about this time the edges of my yard begin to fill up with spider webs. I guess the spiders are loading up on insects to get them through the winter months, but it feels like they got the memo that Halloween is coming. Most of the spiders are harmless, and I love to … Continue reading Web

Our house is full of things that we have collected over nearly 50 years of life together.  We have mementos from mission trips, souvenirs from family travels and pieces of furniture that have been in our families for several generations.  I know Marie Kondo says you ought to get rid of everything that doesn’t “spark … Continue reading Eyes

“Brackish” is the word used to describe the water where fresh water coming down from rivers and streams meets salt water coming in from the ocean.  As the tides push salt water inland and the rains push fresh water toward the sea, there is a beautiful comingling of the two, creating a very fertile climate … Continue reading Brackish

While our California grandchildren (and their parents) were visiting, we tried to find something a little different to do with them.  We remembered that they have never been to Hammocks Beach State Park, so we loaded up the cars with picnic and beach supplies and headed east. If you are not familiar with Hammocks Beach … Continue reading Secret

After a week at the beach, we are back in Wallace.  Our California offspring are here for one more week before they have to return to the dull and boring life of southern California.  Sure, they have beautiful beaches and superb mountain trails, Hollywood and stuff like that, but they do not have the “Redneck … Continue reading Jump!

This is family beach week for our crew down at Wrightsville Beach.  Unfortunately, our son and his family have been passing Covid around, so they were not able to join us.  While we are at the beach, we love fishing, body surfing, walking and just playing in the water.  We make it a point to … Continue reading Life Guard

ENan and I are bi-coastal grandparents, with two grandchildren on the west coast and two on the east coast.  In addition to our grandchildren – who provide a lot of material for these homilies – we also have two grand-dogs, several grand-chickens, a grand-rabbit and (until recently) a grand-guinea pig.  Many of our friends are … Continue reading Creatures

After several weeks of drought, we have finally had some good soaking rains in Duplin County.  Most have been “sizzer-sozzer” rains (just a little more than a drizzle) but a few have been “toad-frog stranglers.” (You can guess what type of rain that is.) I was headed toward Wilmington one morning when I spotted this … Continue reading Stuck

This past weekend was a very special time for our church and for our family.  ENan was ordained as a deacon along with nine other individuals.  For those of you not familiar with the term, “deacon,” it is a Biblical term that comes from two Greek words that mean “through dust.”  The image is that … Continue reading Hands

I don’t know who is responsible for the messages in the sand next to Johnnie Mercer’s pier but they have been appearing for a while now.  It seems that each time we go to Wrightsville Beach we find a new message carefully carved into the sand.  It must take some time and patience to leave … Continue reading Letter