Author Archives: rogerbarbee

The loud voices from every side that are involved in the oft referred to culture wars give me pause, and I remember the experience of my mother. My mother was a divorced woman of six children in Kannapolis, North Carolina during the 1940’, 1950’s, and 1960’s. She hemmed washcloths in Cannon Plant #1 and attendedContinue reading “Culture Wars Then”

Next to one side of our screen porch is an abelia bush. Now in early August, it is covered with small, white nectar producing blossoms, so each morning the hum of bumblebee wings bathes the summer air as they move from bloom to bloom for the bush’s sweet juice of life. It is a morningContinue reading “A Bush, Bumblebees, and a Butterfly”

When former national security adviser Michael Flynn was presented with an AR-15 assault rifle, he responded, “Maybe I’ll find somebody in Washington, D.C.” The crowd laughed, whistled, and cheered. The presentation took place in the Church of Glad Tidings in Yuba City, California, which hosted Flynn on July 16. Dave Bryan, a pastor at theContinue reading “A Bit of Leaven”

A road trip to the Sandhills of South Carolina is required. Unlike most requirements, this one is given freely because of the summer days I spent with Aunt Lynn and her husband Uncle Gene when I was a young boy.   The year 1928 was not the best of times to be born, but AuntContinue reading “Last of the Nine”

This morning’s paper carried a “most read” article with the headline, “What You Need to Know About Watching the Olympics.”  I did not bother reading the article, and I have never read an “What You Need to Know” article. Nor will I. I appreciate that a headline for an online newspaper is like a titleContinue reading “What You Need to Know About Anything”

If you travel our lake front street early on most mornings, you may see two old men between a small building and the street. One is riding a stationary handcycle while the other sits in his chair and participates, not in the riding, but in the conversation—which covers a variety of topics.  Ken is theContinue reading “My Riding Buddy”

On a recent evening, my wife and I were sitting on our screened porch watching another hot, summer day simmer to an end over Lake Norman. A CD of the number one songs by Johnny Cash helped our mood as the worn disc moved from favorite song to favorite song .  However, like many thingsContinue reading “The Man in the Song”

So often in education, which includes all school-sponsored activities such as baseball, if an adult makes a poor decision, the students or athletes suffer the consequences of that decision. For instance, in the early 1990’s I was part of an administrative team working to merge a boys’ and girls’ independent schools. Responsible for activities thatContinue reading “Burst Bubble”

According to a Google search I recently conducted, as many adults regularly play chess as are users of Facebook. That is a large number of the world’s population, and while I am not a user of  the latter, I play the former. My rating is about 725, which means that I am far from beingContinue reading “The Gift”

The word Father is used most often as a noun, as in Ralph is my father. It is also used in religious references. However, the word is most interesting to me when used as a verb, as in I will father my children. It also can be used in a participle,  as in “To fatherContinue reading “To Verb or To Noun”