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I am seven. I lay in “my bedroom,” the spare bedroom at her house in Tazewell, Tennessee. Dusk settles down in the holler, and the only light shining through my window is from the moon. Earlier, I had . . . Continue Reading

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. . . around two thousand armed miners stealthily advanced to the Tennessee Coal Mine stockade. Hidden from sight, they sent three men to inform Colonel Sevier, commander of the militia, of their demand for the convicts’ removal. When the Colonel tried to capture one of the three men, that man gave a signal and “at once the two thousand miners sprang to their feet and marched . . . “Continue Reading

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It looked like all his worldly possessions were in the cart. He was holding up a cardboard sign that said, “Please Help.” Next to him, sitting at his feet, was a small brown dog.

Like everyone else, I passed him by, but, as I drove away, it began to bother me. I’m not wealthy, but I could certainly . . . Continue Reading

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We work our way next through a scruffy zone of ironweed, oxeye daisies and Queen Anne’s lace, then plunge to shade under trees, passing through a smattering of jewelweed, poison ivy and monkey flower. Then, at last, in deep shade, we come to water . . . Continue Reading

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In: Nonfiction, Way Back When
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Annabel was tough, and she did not take prisoners. No excuses for failure to complete assignments were accepted. If a person was still drawing breath into their body, had blood coursing through their veins, and was still warm, they had darn well better have done their homework, or a browbeating ensued. She required book reports every two weeks. I remember vividly . . . Continue Reading

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A small boat skims across the surface of a lake, an old man at the helm. His white hair flutters in the wind. He is smiling. The sun is shining. He guides the boat into a quiet alcove and kills the engine and tosses an anchor overboard. He leans over the side of the boat and peers into the emerald water as the ripples disappear and his reflection appears . . .Continue Reading

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In: Environmental Studies, Interviews, Nonfiction, Our Better Angels, Sustainability
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Founded in 2009, SEEED, or Socially Equal Energy Efficient Development, is an exceptionally designed non-profit with a mission to help young people find a way out of poverty. Their story is so unique because SEEED is an entirely local grown organization, cultivated from concerns about housing costs, high utility bills, and gun violence. These issues, paired with the fact that few real opportunities exist out there for youths to succeed and excel, prompted SEEED to start digging for a solution.Continue Reading