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What This GenXer Wants Millennial Catholics to Know
I am a member of the Catholics Online Directory (and if you are a Catholic blogger or artisan or speaker, you should be too!). One membership benefit is having promotional posts published on the Catholics Online website. Founder Amy Brooks of Prayer, Wine, Chocolate...
Five Steps to a Catholic Social Justice News Feed
I need more from my Facebook feed than pictures of artistically arranged food and smiling babies and adorable kittens (not that I don't love those things). I rely on Facebook for information and spiritual enrichment too. Because as a faithful Catholic I am...
Glenwood Cemetery: A Post for All Souls Day
Catholics are especially called to pray for the dead on All Souls Day. We are encouraged to visit a cemetery to do so if possible. So to commemorate this day, I am giving my readers a virtual visit to a graveyard. I was delivering a meal to a new mother two years...
Five Apps to Help Busy Catholics Pray
If you are busy like I am (and who isn't busy these days), daily dedicated prayer time may seem out of reach. And yet we NEED daily prayer to help us cope with our overwhelming, stressful, too-busy lives. As Saint Francis de Sales famously said, "Every one of us...
Fall Break in New York City: Travel Tips for the Newbie
Growing up in Tennessee, New York City was to me the epitome of everything frightening about Up North: crime, noise, crowds, and unfriendly people. Two stops in the Port Authority bus terminal while in college confirmed all my worse fears. I had very little desire...
Guest Post: Honoring the Dignity of the Shortest Lives
The following is a guest post from my friend Heidi Indahl, and all photos are hers. You can learn more about Heidi and her ministry at the end. From Conception to Natural Death. As Catholics, we use this phrase often. Honoring the dignity of life from conception...
Thirty Years: A Marriage in Pictures
John and I were married thirty years ago today, at 12:30 p.m. to be precise. To celebrate our anniversary and to reflect on what all those years have meant, I am sharing one picture from each year, with commentary. August 12, 1989, as we emerged from Immaculate...
GUEST POST: What I Want Christians to Know about Mental Illness
This guest post was written by a young Catholic man who asked that I publish it anonymously due to the personal nature of the subject. I was happy to do so as mental illness affects so many families, including mine. There has been a significant growth of awareness...
June Summer Fun
A quick look at the summer fun the Shollys had in June . . . The first week of the month, Emily and Lorelei were in Nashville, which made for a very quiet house. Things got lively mid-week, when Jake and Jessica dropped in for a day to leave their dog, Homer, with us...
Educator Spotlight: Beth Einhorn
This article was originally posted on the Culture of Life Studies blog. Beth Einhorn teaches English and language arts in grades 5-8. Her passion for teaching, coupled with her 12 years of teaching experience, give her the tools to not only inspire students, but to...
Illegal or Unthinkable: One Pro-Life Catholic’s Perspective on How to End Abortion
Confession: I really don't want to write this post. Despite evidence to the contrary, I don't court controversy and don't enjoy being bombarded by people from both sides of our country's political divide. And so I've been uncomfortable but quiet over the past few...
Summer Fun Revisited
Remember last summer, when I treated my kids to near-daily adventures from the first day of break to the last? I sure do, both because it was fun and because it seems like it happened a few weeks ago instead of a year ago. But if you think I am getting ready to tell...
Book Review: Everything Old
Y'all know I love to read, and that I occasionally review books here. I was enthusiastic about an earlier Amanda Hamm novel, because not only did I enjoy the story but I had always wondered why among the plethora of Christian romance novels there were none by or...
Unplanned: Can Its Truth Reach Those Who Need It?
I hear that Unplanned, the movie that recounts Abby Johnson's conversion from Planned Parenthood clinic director of the year to pro-life activist, is under a media blackout, but you'd never know it from my newsfeed. I'd been hearing about it from all my Catholic...
Book Review: 67 Ways to Do the Works of Mercy with Your Kids
As a student in parochial school, I first encountered the Corporal Works of Mercy, as a list to memorize for a religion grade. Thirty years or so later, I made my homeschooled children memorize them too, write them out in their best handwriting, draw pictures...
Bold, Brave, Catholic: Living Like Others are Watching
A lot of people think of bravery in terms of combat or mountain climbing or running into a burning building to rescue someone. And no doubt it takes bravery to do those things. But I think most of us don’t give ourselves enough credit for the small moments every day...
Five Takeaways from the Covington Catholic Controversy
This will be my first--and I hope last--time weighing in on the post-March for Life encounter between MAGA hat-wearing teenagers from an all-boys Catholic school in Kentucky and Native American activists visiting D.C. for the Indigenous Peoples March. I don't have...
12 in 2018: A Year in Pictures
I love taking pictures, and I love this self-indulgent exercise of sharing my best photos of 2018. Or maybe not the best, but the most representative--it kind of depends on the month, really. JANUARY: A bonfire in our backyard--this one was for the burning of the...
2018 in Review: Your Favorites, My Favorites
I love to start the new year by reviewing the old one, and that extends to my blogging. So each year I write a post highlighting my readers' five favorite posts (according to Wordpress statistics) and my own five favorites. Often my most-read posts were actually...
The Twelve Days of Christmas
Merry Christmas! I have a gift for all my readers, a book of reflections to help you focus on continuing the Christmas celebration for all twelve days. Based on an almost certainly inaccurate but still fun interpretation of the traditional carol's lyrics, this eBook...
Grieving Together: Review and Giveaway
Ten years ago, I lost our sixth and last baby in an early miscarriage, a baby who was planned, wanted, loved. I've never written about it here. In a very dark period of my life during which I lost first the baby, then my dream home, and finally almost every...
To Hear His Voice/Until I Rest in You: Mass Journals for Catholic Moms and Kids
I've written before about my discovery of prayer journaling and how much it has enriched my prayer life. Since then, I've participated in online retreats, book discussions, and other practices that are helping me grow in faith--maybe I will share more about some of...
Election Day Redux
Confession time: I am still not over the 2016 Presidential Election. I don't know that I will ever really get over it. To go from euphoria to despair in just a few short hours, and then to see many of my fears realized over the past two years--it has truly been a...
A Knoxville Fall Weekend
Remember summer? It seems so long ago! Not the hot part--that lasted well into October here--but the not-being-in-school-and-having-daily-adventures part, which ended for us in early August. We've had adventures since then, if not so many; what I lack is the time to...
Obamacare Endures, and for That We Are Grateful: An Update
Well, it's that time of year: Open Enrollment is upon us. It's a time I both dread and welcome. I dread the clunky website and the endless data entry and the long but usually helpful calls to customer service, but I welcome the opportunity to once again share with...
Sydney and Calvin Have a Baby: A Book Review
One of the coolest things about blogging is getting free books in exchange for sharing my honest opinion of them here. As I might have mentioned, I love books. I love them so much that I have big stacks of them and so sometimes I don't review them as quickly as I am...
Book Review: Pope Francis, Builder of Bridges
It is a secret to no one who knows me, whether on social media or in real life, that I love Pope Francis. So when I was offered the opportunity to review a picture book about him, I jumped at it. I didn't jump on the reviewing part quite as quickly as I should, for...
Why I Love Being Catholic
I was given the opportunity to participate in Amy Thomas's "Why I Love Being Catholic" series at Catholic Pilgrim. Amy writes beautifully about the beauty and truth of Catholicism and I am honored to appear on her blog. If you'd like to know my favorite saint, my...
Summers, Swimming, and Sexual Harassment: What Girls from the 80s Remember
I was about 14 years old, looking through the stacks in the downtown public library, when a young man passing by made physical contact with me. I wasn't sure if it was on purpose or an accident, but it felt wrong somehow--and I still remember the way he smiled. I...
To Everything a Season: Why It’s Okay to Stop Homeschooling
If you were reading this blog about four years ago, you would have seen a lot of posts about homeschooling. It was my first year teaching Lorelei at home, and I was full of plans and eager to share them. Lorelei spent her first four years of schooling at a parochial...
Meet Rameses
I am not a dog person. Confession time: I have never understood my children's obsession with animals. While I enjoyed the occasional zoo trip as a child, animals in general did not occupy much of my thoughts. But I can fall in love with animals on an individual...
In Which I Finally Have Time to Myself
I love making plans. In fact, I often enjoy planning things more than I enjoy doing the actual things! When I am feeling overwhelmed, I comfort myself by looking to the future and making plans for the next season. When school is going on, I think how much easier...
Rush Not to Judgment: Why I Am Giving Pope Francis the Benefit of the Doubt
When I read the reports of Archbishop Vigano's accusations concerning Pope Francis late Saturday night, I felt physically sick. I think I have made it pretty clear here and elsewhere that I love Pope Francis. And because I am a faithful and obedient Catholic, albeit...
Hope from the Holy Spirit
Hope is one of the great theological virtues, one of the three things that last. Its opposite is despair, which I have often heard referred to as the one unforgivable sin. The temptation to despair is great right now. Every day brings some new reprehensible...
Twenty-Five Things to Read about the Catholic Sex Abuse Scandal
Gird yourselves with sackcloth And lament, O priests; Wail, O ministers of the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God . . . ~ Joel 1:13 When I am disturbed about world events, I head to my computer, looking for something to read. I read for...
Sackcloth and Ashes: A Movement of Laypeople Praying for Our Church
In their streets they have girded themselves with sackcloth; On their housetops and in their squares. Everyone is wailing, dissolved in tears. ~ Isaiah 15:13 If you are a Catholic who follows any Catholic pages on Facebook, I'm guessing you have seen this graphic,...
Code of Silence
You swore to yourself a long time ago There were some things that people never needed to know . . . And you can't talk about it Because you're following a code of silence . . . That's not the kind of code you're inclined to break Some things unknown are best left...
Summer Fun: The End
School started yesterday. Our summer is over even though there is a month and a half left in the season! There wasn't a whole lot of time for fun in our last week. It was actually a pretty typical week from one of our other summers--I worked every day and the kids...
Catholic Minimalism Redux UPDATE
Just popping in to update anyone who has been following my minimalism posts . . . I have NOT stopped, but I have slowed down. When last I posted, we were moving into Kids' Rooms Week. We recently minimized Lorelei's bedroom in a BIG way--because Jake moved out and we...
Summer Fun: Home Stretch
It was the second to last full week of summer break, and my pace was slowing, but we still had some fun times! On Tuesday we had breakfast at Nick and J's, a former Waffle House now locally owned and serving breakfast and lunch, with the most enormous pancakes I have...
I Don't Want Your Freedom
Read the title. Can you hear George Michael (RIP) singing? Is the song stuck in your head now? Because it’s been stuck in mine for the past couple of days as I contemplated this month’s theme! I’m not sure what George Michael intended to convey in the song, but it...
Summer Fun: Adventuring
Last week I fell far short of my promised one-fun-thing-per-day promise. I had a good excuse, though--I went to Nashville from Wednesday until Saturday to visit my sister. Emily kindly provided some entertainment for her siblings in my stead, taking them blueberry...
Twice Exceptional Parenting Is Challenging. Here’s Why I’ll Never Change a Thing.
I have a large intimidating binder and a husband who is a lawyer to bring with me to IEP meetings. I send emails to teachers, I have conferences with the principal, I advocate relentlessly even when it makes me uncomfortable. I have become THAT MOM, and I don’t care...
Catholic Minimalism Redux: Week Three
Oh, I was so excited for this week. I am ALWAYS wanting to minimize my kitchen more and more. Back in January, I got a lot done. BUT, I had intended to go back and do more during the catch-up week, and as I have explained, Week Three ended up being my last week. I...
Summer Fun: Exploring History
Y'all, it is HOT. And our access to a swimming pool is gone. It is hard to want to leave the air conditioning to have summer adventures, but we managed three days of fun this week. I couldn't get it together till Wednesday, when we had to leave the house for an...
Catholic Minimalism Redux: Week 2
Week two of the Catholic Minimalism challenge is bathrooms. We have four of them! Last time around, I thoroughly minimized the two upstairs. In the time since, the one on the main floor was repurposed when Emily moved all her things to the basement bathroom, which...
A Plethora of Peacocks: Lessons from Drama and Real Life
Back in my high school days, the Drama Club was one of my favorite extra-curricular activities. I participated in every production that occurred while I was a student. My all-time favorite role was Penelope (Penny) Sycamore, the mother in You Can't Take It with You. ...
Summer Fun: In Which I Grow Lazy
I'll admit it--it is harder to have fun all the time than you might think. Honestly, I really, really like sitting at my desk having uninterrupted time to get work done. Leaving the house is stressful, and sandwiching fun in between not only work but also family...
When God’s Generosity Meets the Demands of Conscience and Science
I’m a cradle Catholic, born in 1967. And I recall hearing a lot about the birth control pill growing up. I doubt I had any idea how it worked, but I had the general impression from the books I read, the media I consumed, and the people I knew that taking it was just...
Catholic Minimalism Redux: Week One
Remember back at the beginning of the year when I was participating in the Catholic Minimalism Challenge, and making all kinds of progress, and posting impressive updates? Well, along about week three, we got the flu. For the second time. As you might expect, that...
Summer Fun: That 70s Summer
Remember when I told y'all that we weren't doing a 70s summer around here? Well, this week we did our best imitation and as a result this will be a very short post. The reason: POOL. So to me, daily access to a swimming pool is an absolute necessity for a 70s...
A Different Image of Catholic Femininity
If you ask someone to choose an illustration of “Catholic femininity” what do you think they might describe? An aproned Mother in a kitchen surrounded by a small army of well-behaved children? A traditionally habited nun, eyes downcast in prayer? A modest school girl...
Summer Fun: Vacation!
Our fun summer continued last week with a little less creativity needed on my part, since we were on our actual vacation! We traveled to Beech Mountain, North Carolina, to stay at a timeshare provided by my oldest friend and her family. We had a wonderful time and I...
Summer Fun Update
I'll be honest--it's getting harder to come up with something to do every day, and now I am laboring under Lorelei and William's expectations as well. It's not that I don't have plenty of ideas--I have a page-long list, in fact--it's having ideas that fit in with the...
WINC: A Wine Club for You (Sponsored)
I'm back again with a new US Family Guide offer that I am pretty sure y'all are going to like! I've been chosen to partner with a wine delivery club, which means (you guessed it!) FREE WINE for me, in exchange for promoting an offer to my readers and offering my...
More Summer Fun
Well, this has been a busy week! John and I got back from Georgetown Sunday evening, and I was right back into summer adventures with the kids the following day, when we visited McClung Museum. This is a mostly unsung treasure on the University of Tennessee campus. ...
Thoughts from a Reunion
Though one cannot always remember exactly why one has been happy, there is no forgetting that one was. (from Good-bye to the Mezzogiorno by W.H. Auden) I am writing this in the blessed coolness of my hotel room as I recover from a long, hot, and humid but nevertheless...
The Summer Fun Continues . . .
The first full week of summer break is coming to a close so I thought I'd give y'all an update on our summer of fun. Sundays are already busy, with the day half gone by the time we get home from 11:30 Mass, plus John and I have a standing meeting on Sunday afternoons,...
The Ring I Always Wanted: Sponsored Review
I told y'all a few weeks ago that I was going to be getting a ring from Mama's Jewelry in exchange for my honest opinion here. Well, it arrived last week and here is my honest opinion: I LOVE IT! The ordering process for this was only hard because there were so many...
Womanhood: Made in God’s Image
In my first religion class as a freshman at Knoxville Catholic High School, I was introduced to the concepts of literalism and contextualism in interpreting the Bible. I was excited to learn about all the symbolism in the Genesis creation stories, some of which...
Getting Back to Old-school Blogging
Sometimes I think back to when I first started this blog--eight years ago, if you can believe it! I didn't have a clue. I didn't know how to get people to read it. I didn't know anything about branding. I had never heard of SEO. I didn't make pinnable images. I...
Why We Can’t Have a 70s Summer and What We Are Doing Instead
You've probably seen posts like this and this extolling the virtues of the summers of yore and planning to recreate them. Heck, I might even have written a post like that myself. Now, don't get me wrong--I loved my childhood summers. It sounds idyllic when I talk...
Fighting Fear with Faith
Before the last couple of years, worry and anxiety were never challenges for me. I have the kind of mind that just doesn’t hold on the those kinds of things. Unlike my husband, who is consumed with worry pretty much all the time, making him miserable, I have always...
Personalized Jewelry to Honor the Mothers in Your Life
When I was a little girl, I took weekly piano lessons from a family acquaintance. I remember that she had a ring with multicolor stones that I thought was just beautiful. She explained that it held the birthstones of each of her children. Since then I've seen...
Sacrificing Lent
Maybe the problem is that I have always enjoyed Lent just a little too much. I’ve actually looked forward to it with excitement, thought of it as a challenge, taken on some serious disciplines and stuck to them. But it was last year at this time that I realized that...
The Knox Saint Patrick’s Parade: A New Knoxville Tradition
As someone who is very proud of her Irish heritage, I was excited to attend the first annual St. Patrick's Parade in downtown Knoxville last year. Because my sister and her husband had a float in the parade, our whole family got front row VIP seats for the event, and...
When We Were Eve: Finding Eden in a Fallen World
Eve. The first woman. The mother of all the living. Adam's companion. What do you think of when I say her name? How do you picture her? Are your thoughts positive--or negative? When I was offered a copy of this book by a representative of Franciscan Media in...
The Power of Love
“For true love is inexhaustible; the more you give, the more you have. And if you go to draw at the true fountainhead, the more water you draw, the more abundant is its flow.” ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery There was once a sad and solitary man named Mr. Hatch. He lived...
My Lenten Walk in Pictures and Quotations
Last year for Lent I participated in an online book club via WINE (Women in the New Evangelization) in which we read and discussed Walk in Her Sandals. Our facilitator (Allison Gingras of Reconciled to You) came up with the fun Instagram challenge below. At first I...
Maintaining Connection in a Busy Life – Quality Time
f you are a parent—perhaps especially a mother who works outside the home—you’ve heard all about Quality Time. When it comes to my kids, I’m more about quantity than quality. But in my marriage, it’s a totally different thing. Quality Time is one of the Five Love...
Catholic Minimalism Challenge Week 3
This week was Kitchen Week, but my kitchen is far from finished for a couple of reasons. One, I never planned to do the whole thing this week because there weren't enough days/categories for me to go through everything (I have a lot of dish ware I want to go through)....
Modern Manifestations: Encountering Christ Today
Going back again to the historical event–imagine the wise men, weary with their long journey, seeing that star growing closer and closer, finally beholding the infant king, being able to present their gifts to Him! It was the culmination not just of a physical...
Adventure Time! (Sponsored)
John and I are going on a trip! This will be the farthest we have ever traveled without our kids, and only the second time I can remember that we've ever traveled alone by plane. We are going to San Francisco! Obviously, we are going because Teddy is there, and we...
Catholic Minimalism Challenge: Week Two
Well, it's been a WEEK, y'all. And what a week it has been. Three of us (including me) had the flu, and school was closed three days for snow and super-cold (for Tennessee) weather. Staying on task under such circumstances was challenging. But it's supposed to be a...
They See a Family: Book Review
As a somewhat sheepish occasional reader of Christian romance novels, I have been wishing for years that there was a Catholic equivalent. So when Catholic author Amanda Hamm asked if I would like to read her latest novel (for free, in exchange for my honest review) I...
Catholics Online: Your Catholic Connection Solution
Writing is necessary to writers, but having people read what you write makes it a lot more fun. Bloggers seem ubiquitous these days, and if you want to be read, you have to do more than publish posts, no matter how good they are. Social media is crucial to any...
Called by God: Fulfilling My Vocation
Growing up Catholic, if I thought about the word "vocation" at all, it was in the context of a call to the priesthood. We were encouraged to pray for more vocations because of the looming shortage of priests. And this sense of vocation as a specifically religious...
Catholic Minimalism Challenge: Week One
I mentioned in my most recent post that I was embarking upon an eight-week challenge to declutter my home. As I was taking my before and after pictures this week I thought it might be fun to share the process with you. Maybe you'll be inspired to join in! Week One...
Not of This World: Finding Peace through Minimalism
There's something about a new year. isn't there? So fresh and clean with none of the last year's mistakes . . . yet. It's natural to want to apply the newness to our lives, to make them fresh and clean as well. I'm sure I'm not the only one who resolves to tackle...
12 in 2017: A Year in Pictures
And now for a quick trip through 2017, with some of my favorite pictures! JANUARY: Along with millions of women (and men!) around the world, Emily and I participated in the Women's March. I wrote about that here and here. It was pouring down rain--an absolutely...
2017 in Review: Your Favorites, My Favorites
At the end of each blogging year, I like to look at my WordPress stats and do a post about my five most-read posts of the year. Many times this list will include some evergreen content from years gone by--last year not a single 2016 post made the top five! Therefore...
Books Worth Reading: Christmas Edition
It's Christmas Eve! In a time of year full of traditions, there is one I think I cherish the most, and it will happen this evening, after Mass and dinner out, when all my kids--even the adult ones--will gather in the living room before the tree to open one present...
The Joy of Children
Children don’t have to be reminded to be joyful. Children find joy everywhere, effortlessly. Think of all the viral videos of babies laughing at everything from funny faces to paper tearing. Too bad that we grow up and away from joy and into worry and distress. ...
Praying as a Family
Catholic blogger fail confession time--we are not That Catholic Family that does a morning blessing, says grace before every meal, and prays a nightly rosary. Not even close. It's not that we haven't had good intentions. We've tried off and on over the many, many...
SPONSORED REVIEW: Watch Ya' Mouth Throwdown Edition
Do you like board games? Do you like silly physical challenges? Do you like laughing hysterically? If so, you are probably going to like this game, which I received free as a U.S. Family Guide blogger in exchange for my honest review. So Watch Ya' Mouth, Throwdown...
SPONSORED Review: Sun Tail Mermaid
Y'all remember Splash, right? About the mermaid who became human and walked the streets of New York? And of course before that there was Hans Christian Andersen's tale of The Little Mermaid, most recently re-interpreted by Disney. In our popular imagination,...
Hopes and Dreams for 2018
I'm a little late with my post for the CWBN blog hop this month. I'm pretty good about dashing off a post at the last minute, but I felt such a serious topic deserved a little more reflection than that. Out of the many hopes I have for the coming year, I've narrowed...
SPONSORED REVIEW: Package from Santa
A couple of weeks ago I told y'all about this cool company that helps add a little magic to your child's Christmas. I received a letter, phone call, and video from Santa--all personalized--in exchange for my honest review. First of all, let me explain how all this...
SPONSORED: Shop Healtop
About six weeks ago I was given the opportunity to try some products from Healtop, which the company's founder describes as "a company dedicated to increasing health & wellness through natural, efficient and effective proven supplements, vitamins, skincare...
Counting Blessings: On Giving Thanks in Difficult Circumstances
Whenever I think about gratitude, I always come back to one Bible verse: “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (I Thessalonians 5:18) I first heard this verse a long time ago, and it wasn’t at Mass or in religion class. ...
SPONSORED: Package from Santa
Anyone my age remembers with what joy and excitement they greeted the arrival of the Sears Wish Book. My sister and I would sit on the floor, catalog open on the coffee table, feasting our eyes on the offerings and circling things in pen as we paged through. Next...
Waiting for Christmas: Advent Traditions My Family Loves
More than Christmas, more even than Easter, Advent is my very favorite liturgical season. Part of my affection for Advent stems from my beautiful memories of Catholic school celebrations, but I also love it for how simple it is to incorporate the celebration of this...
Shopping at Catholic Door: A Review
David Whitworth has a dream. David is the founder of Catholic Door, an online Catholic store, which he has been running for almost a year with the help of his wife and kids. David envisions Catholic Door as a for-profit ministry and a tool for evangelization. He...
Super Girls and Halos: A Review
When I was given the chance to review Maria Morera Johnson's book Super Girls and Halos: My Companions on the Quest for Truth, Justice, and Heroic Virtue I jumped at the opportunity. Not only was I intrigued by the title, but who wouldn't want to read a book by...
Sponsored Review: LipSense Lasts!
I was a sophomore in high school when I first discovered makeup. I remember how much fun I had experimenting back then. I can even remember the name of my favorite lipstick! Nowadays, though, makeup is a special occasion thing for me. So you might find it...
Sponsored: TurnGram
The world is making sure we know that CHRISTMAS IS COMING. And that's why I am getting many requests to share products with you here on the blog. As a US Family Guide blogger I get offers to share with you, and a free product to try in exchange for my honest review....
Sponsored: Who Likes to Play Board Games?
Y'all, I loved to play them when I was little. I was always begging my parents to play, with minimal success. And now that I have a kid begging me to play LIFE, I totally understand where they were coming from! There are board games designed to be fun for children...
Sponsored: Wouldn’t You Like to Be a Mermaid?
I know I always used to like to pretend to be one, trying to swim with my legs together at the pool in the summertime. Too bad this was not a thing back then. Yes, you now have the opportunity...
Bookwalter Cemetery: Pretty But Not Peaceful
It was a beautiful autumn day almost exactly a year ago when I finally visited Bookwalter United Methodist Cemetery, which had been on my list for years. It is a large--over 4,000 graves--cemetery, and has been in continuous use from the 1880s to the present day....
Walking in Knoxville: A Guide for Hikers
Writing about hiking used to be a pretty big chunk of this blog. Not so much lately, as I fell off the fitness wagon. But fall is a great time for walking--it's beautiful as well as cool. So to inspire myself, and as a resource to any Knoxvillians or visitors, I've...
