Last week was the Winter Solstice, the point and time of the year when the sun has gone as far south in our daily skies as it will before beginning the journey north again. One aspect of living in the mountains (with their folds, peaks, and contours) is that the light from the ever-moving sun… Read more »

Growing up in the Appalachian Highlands generally meant much time in the woods, including adventures of exploring and eventually returning home for supper. Occasionally your path would take you to a dense laurel thicket that you had to maneuver through. Often halfway through the thicket, you had doubts about the adventure and just wanted to… Read more »

If you have a favorite movie or TV show, you may enjoy the “behind the scenes” look offered by the creators and cast. Often, the inside view comes when the show celebrates a milestone (100thepisode) or when it’s a blockbuster movie that shows all the special effects (Avatar). Perhaps you haven’t thought about banking or… Read more »

I know what you are thinking. Leton, you have your days mixed up. It’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday. My question to you is – are you sure? After seeing the numbers Monday morning on Bloomberg about the tremendous increase in online shopping Friday I think we may need to change the name to Cyber… Read more »

Imagine that your family is adventuresome – very adventuresome. So, you decide that you are going to sail around the world – in 1971 – leaving Cornwall, England. The trip is going well until your 43-foot wooden schooner is attacked by Orcas (killer whales) and sinks in the Pacific Ocean. For the next thirty-eight (38)… Read more »

On a recent drive to Abingdon to speak to the Virginia Workforce meeting, I passed a sign on a church that said, “Be the Salt”. Salt is such a basic thing, kind of like air – it doesn’t cost much and we assume it is always available. While we may not eat much of it… Read more »

Seeing all the kids and grandkids having a great time at our bank picnic last month took me back to my youth. Back in the olden days before cable and internet, the event of the year besides Christmas was the County Fair—lots of rides, games, food, and exhibits. One of the venues I remember taking… Read more »

As I write this, I am hearing on the radio the bells ringing for the victims of 9-11. In some ways, we’ve had our “vision” of heroes displaced by movies and the media. What we forget are the heroes who exist because they are “super caring”. A few years ago, we were approached by Southwest… Read more »

There they are. The students lined up and waiting for the bus as the new school year began. One child caught my eye on my drive this morning. A beautiful young girl who was so tiny that she could not come up to my knee. In a little dress which made her look like an… Read more »

As a parent or grandparent, one of the most fun things we do is revisit our childhood with the young members of our family. Often this includes reading and sharing your favorite storybooks or nursery rhymes. One particular rhyme struck me one week as I drove to work. It was the one about Baa Baa… Read more »