The outcome of the Ahmaud Arbery murder trial in Glynn, County, Georgia, has brought both jubilation and cautious optimism for the future of race relations in the South. It was with a sigh of relief that I listened to the guilty verdict for the three defendants. Perhaps, the reputation of Georgia was burnished a bit…

It is a beautiful, crisp Thanksgiving morning here at Potlatch with the sun just starting to peep through the trees. It’s been cold recently for these parts with the weather hovering around the freezing mark. The flowers, especially the hibiscus and impatiens, have been dispatched for the season, but there has not been a hard…

The second week of the Ahmaud Arbery trial in Brunswick, Georgia, was both dramatic and enlightening. And as it has developed, the case has increasingly caught national attention with the story making most of the major cable and network broadcasts. The big news of the week was the testimony of Travis McMichael who shot and…

This past week the Ahmaud Arbery trial started in Brunswick, Georgia. For most of this time, it has been overshadowed in the news by the ongoing Rittenhouse trial in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the case of a young man charged with the killing of two people in a Black Lives Matter protest. With a verdict imminent in…

The recent news of efforts to ban certain books about race and controversial subjects has been disappointing and reminiscent of past attempts to censor what we read. Today when I was running errands in Dahlonega, I was listening to an interview on my truck radio with authors and others about the issue which got me…

The case of Ahmaud Arbery recently went to trial in Brunswick, Ga. The point of this post is to alert and encourage you to pay attention as this case unfolds. His murder while out jogging in February 2020 is a reflection on all of us and needs to be indelibly written on our conscience. This…

I have long remembered what a friend said to me in 1980 when Ronald Reagan was running for president. Confused, she said that she didn’t understand his popularity, all her friends were voting for Democrats. At that time, I still had strong ties to Iowa and told her that all the farmers out there were…

When I walk by a window here all I see outside is woods. This time of the year the view is especially good, with the fall foliage putting on its show. No matter when I click a photo, however, I can’t capture the reality of the scene. I guess you got to be here to…

Some time ago, a friend suggested that I read Power and Liberty by Gordon Wood for a better understanding of American constitutionalism. It was a good tip for which I’m grateful. I knew about Wood as a distinguished historian of the revolution and early republic, but had not seen his latest tour de force. This…

Today is my sister Mary’s birthday. She is ninety years old and still very much an inspiration to all of us for her joie de vivre and sweet personality. Permit me to take the time to salute her and tell her that I love her, something I don’t do frequently enough. Since there are nine…