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Columns

  • LOOSELEAF LAUREATE: Some things you don't see coming

    You can be plodding along in the routine of life and never see a week like the  past one happen.

    Killer storms swirled all around us, but in Roane County, most of us escaped the worst of the harm.

    Then a blissfully beautiful Saturday unfolded.

    My plans involved hiking at Big South Fork, but I soon expanded my itinerary to include one night of camping.

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  • A view from Lick Skillet by Gerald Largen: President shows his leadership in action

    Some friends, knowing that we have long regarded Meredith Willson’s “The Music Man” as one of the best musicals ever written, kindly gave us a copy of the programme for the current production of this work, appearing through 15 May at the Clarence Brown Theatre.
    As would be expected, the programme lists the cast members, which, if you know the story, must of necessity be unusually large, but, in addition the musicians in the orchestra are also listed.

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  • IMPRESSIONS by Johnny Teglas: Warm fuzzies from gala, then pleasant dreams

    There’s something about sitting around a banquet table surrounded by old and new friends — and letting your hair down.
    Of course, you have to have some hair to do that last part. The round, gray-headed guy has closely cropped locks.
    Yet, that didn’t prevent the Teglas clan from doing exactly that Friday evening at Whitestone Country Inn.

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  • LOOSELEAF LAUREATE: Nervous wreck rides out storms

    Today’s column was to have been on wildflowers ... but this week’s wild weather seemed to need more attention, so I changed directions.

    I survived the brunt of the worst tornado system in recorded history — the April 3, 1974, superstorm that struck Tennessee, Kentucky and adjoining states — and killed 315 people.

    This week’s storms have come close, with sobering devastation in Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi. The death toll was nearing 200 as I write this. Many more people lost homes, businesses and other property.

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  • Impressions: Survey says ... well, just read on to find out

    “Gasoline prices are nearing the point where Americans are beginning to cut back.”
    That was a headline I saw many times last week during my morning media sweeps.
    Big surprise, huh?
    We all feel the pinch when we pull up in front of the pump.
    Talking heads on television tell us there really isn’t a supply problem or massive demand.
    Even the unrest in North Africa and the Middle East are only blips on the world-market radar.
    Rather, we are told those infamous “speculators” keep pushing up the price of crude oil.
    Whatever the case, it’s cutting into all of our budgets.

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  • LOOSELEAF LAUREATE: Ready to two-wheel the roads

    I have written about my hiking lately. Not counting dog walks and casual rambling, I logged 18 miles on the trail in one seven-day period recently.
    But I believe in diversification, which is why I’m getting my two bicycles ready for riding soon.
    I’ve been an avid cyclist since I learned to ride on my older sister’s navy-blue bicycle at age 5. I never was able to ride using training wheels, not with the classic parental hand steadying the seat.

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  • A view from Lick Skillet by Gerald Largen: When thinking of national debt, recall 1835

    As we predicted last week, we continue to be inundated with statements, almost sermons, about the national debt and how some of our right-wing wise guys are going to pay off the debt. To this you, learned reader, may well express some doubt — a sort of ‘I’ll believe it when I see it” type attitude — and your doubt is well justified, as we will now demonstrate:

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  • IMPRESSIONS by Johnny Teglas

    I wonder who “anonymous” is.
    I ponder the question simply because whoever that person or entity is recently made a priceless investment in Roane County.
    Through their philanthropy, The Roane Alliance now owns its building free and clear.
    Only one stipulation President and CEO Leslie Henderson said was required.
    The Alliance and its partners must continue to invest in upkeep and improvements in the property over the next 10 years.
    Seems pretty reasonable to me.

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  • LOOSELEAF LAUREATE: My spring of falls and other thoughts

    What is it that makes spring air seem so wonderfully soft?

    Perhaps it is the perfect combination of temperature — an easy warmth — and moderate humidity, but somehow, I think a gentle breeze and the perfume of new flowers also play into the mix.

    I’m dubbing this season my spring of falls.

    I’ve gotten in a couple more hikes in since I last wrote, and I’m beginning to lose count of all the waterfalls I’ve seen.

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  • A VIEW from LICK SKILLET: Wouldn't true patriots pay more to save country?

    Well, Gentle R­eader, the news over the weekend was dominated, as it probably will be for some little time, with the manoeuvres, machinations, and manifestoes concerning the government’s budgetary plans and actions.
    After much ado, more than halfway into the fiscal year, apparently there has finally been agreement as to the 2010-2011 federal budget. You have read and heard about it ad nauseam no doubt, so we will not go into the subject in any detail.

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