Author Archives: rogerbarbee

As an amateur watcher and feeder of birds, I have had my disagreements with squirrels, the rodents that many folks, unlike me, enjoy. However, after years of battle I have reached a reluctant peace with the varmints. Our bird feeders are as much “squirrel proof” as possible, and I begrudge any squirrel the seeds onContinue reading “Danger in the Garden-Revised”

We all hold onto a variety of parts of our lives: A favorite mug; a cherished memory; a position or job; a life plan; family; friends; or even our self-images. We hold, even grasp, what we see as worthy parts of our lives. Thus, April Stace writes a memoir of all that she holds orContinue reading “Holding Onto”

Today is the first day in fourteen years that life will not be shared with Miss Fancy, the all-white, blue-eyed cat that my wife rescued from an abusive neighbor in the Shenandoah Valley. Yesterday afternoon after a thorough diagnosis of lungs filled with fluid and failing kidneys,  she was euthanized. When we lived on thatContinue reading “Miss Fancy”

To die by gunshot is horrible. To have your life ended by a deputy U.S. Marshall’s shot on your 32nd birthday is even worse. But neither of these is as bad as your death leaving four children without a father, who is you. At a Citgo station in Charlotte this week, a young black man,Continue reading “Sick and Tired of One More Death”

Today is the first day of spring and the March equinox, which occurred at 5:37 A.M EDT, is marked. I noted the sun’s position over our house roof as I rode the stationary bike which I had recently moved from the screen porch to the front, on a corner of the driveway. The changing ofContinue reading “Renewal”

The word ritual is etymologically associated with a religious service and how the service is conducted, so it is a word normally used in conjunction with institutions.  However, many individuals have developed rituals, daily or seasonal, in their personal lives. For instance, one of my favorite rituals is the one of changing-out summer and winterContinue reading “Ritual”

The male, rufous-sided towhee did not get the notice, or he forgot to re-set his clock because I heard him this morning in our back garden while it was still quite dark. Under the lime hydrangea, he scratched and called, at first a lone bird in the last dark of night. This is the firstContinue reading “Clock”

This morning, as if to announce the arrival of March, the temperature invited my wife and me to have our coffee on the screen porch. Early risers because our  aged hound, Nolan, wanted to eat, we drank our first cup of coffee in the fading darkness of last night. No birds called yet because ofContinue reading “This First Day”

In 1919 when H. B. Alexander wrote his essay,  Education and Democracy, the radio was slowly replacing the newspaper as the preferred source of news. The Great War was finally ending, movies were becoming more popular, and while not obsolete, the print industry was beginning to feel the rise and power of radio. The airwaysContinue reading “Voters and Character”

Recently I shared with a friend how I disagreed with a well-known economic expert and his views concerning the economy and pandemic. My friend listened to my rant and then told me that he knew the man, had worked with him, and admired him. While my friend valued the expert’s opinions, he admired mostly howContinue reading “Character and Politics (3rd revision)”