Beech Tree News Network

 This past Saturday night, I went to my 20 year high school reunion at Chuy’s.  The employees set up the patio for us which was very nice.  It was decorated very nicely.  Punctual as I am, I was the first one there.  Soon there was a steady stream of my classmates.  As usual at a reunion, I took

Mackinac Island has never been high on my I-want-to-visit-that-place list, but a week ago my daughters and I participated in an eight-mile run-walk event on the island. I came away wondering why I hadn’t known about its beauty. The island is a treasure.

When I see a man in overalls, I always think of my father.  Not my dad the county judge, but my dad the simple sawmill man.  In my mind, overalls—overhauls he called them—will always symbolize hard work, even though after he retired from the mill, he wore them when he was relaxing, a gallous hanging off one shoulder.

Fall is definitely here (even though not official) and I’m enjoying the last few weeks of the adorable hummingbirds we have at our house. These little feathered friends are so amusing to me (and sometimes almost dangerous).  Everytime it begins to get colder, I remember a lady at Walmart years ago in line in front of me buying hummingbird food; the cashier said “oh you mean you’re still feeding them”?

CIVIL WAR ?

One of my earliest recollections about a formal education process is learning about “The Civil War,” in an American history class. At the time I had not yet fully developed my love for words, so my youthful self, deduced that the word “civil,” must mean within the borders of a single country.

Last week, the country music world lost two of their own on the same day.  Don Williams and Troy Gentry were on opposite ends of the country spectrum, but both were extremely talented. 
On September 8, 50-year-old Troy Gentry was killed in a helicopter crash as he was headed to a concert as half of Montgomery Gentry.  The crash was in Medford, New Jersey, where MG was scheduled to perform that evening.  The group enjoyed a string of hits throughout the 2000’s, including five #1’s. 

I’ve been thinking about the many people I admire. Literature, history, and the world around us are filled with people who have made a difference, contributing positively in some way to family and/or society. Now, I want to focus on some women whom I admire.

I saw my friend, Cathy Wallace, recently.  Before she and her husband, Gary, moved to Glasgow to be near their grandchildren, they lived next door.  She has a granddaughter she spends a lot of her time with, in the same way I spend my time with my granddaughter, Sabria.  Cathy and her granddaughter dress up as princesses and ride around in their carriage—a golf cart—searching for handsome princes.  We talked about how important those pretend moments are to us, and how we ignore those around us who say things like, “She should learn to play by herself and not drag you into everything.”  We a

Bringing about a flurry of facts and a storm of misconceptions, Kentucky’s pension crisis has become one of the most dominating news stories in recent months. One thing is for certain: if our state pensions are not addressed in the very near future, we will face huge cuts in state funding. Education, Medicaid, and other government services would likely be affected—a risk our state is not in a position to take.