Godspeed, Mark

The sky in front of us was crowded with angry, dark clouds. The kind that only a summer storm can produce. Clouds so low, the green tops of the surrounding pine forest threatened to skewer them as they waddled towards us. In another half mile, we would be in the thick of this storm and […]

In Defense of Football

My son is a high school football player and I love watching him play the game. I never played organized football.  When I started sixth grade, I told my dad I wanted to play ball.  And he said no.  Dad was afraid I would hurt myself so he told me I couldn’t play.  End of […]

A Tale of Two BBQ’s

  Hudson Denney has just handed me perhaps the most memorable bite of BBQ I’ve ever had.  It’s beef brisket; tender as a poem by Byron, more complex than a fine Bordeaux, redolent with spice, smoke, acid, sweetness, and cherry wood overtones.  Hudson can tell I’m impressed by my wicked smile.  I’ve been coming to […]

Goliath vs. David

  Want to compete in a big time BBQ contest?  $275.00 is all it takes to enter the NC BBQ Championships and that gets you a 25 by 30 foot piece of grass with water and electricity.  The only thing left to pay for is meat, fire, spice and beer.    A few days prior to […]

“You’re gonna love my stove!”

  Our friend was leaning into our car window, grinning from ear to ear.  Just a week earlier he was the winning bidder for a dinner that my wife and I donated as a fundraiser for our church.  His mind was racing with the expectation of a memorable meal and Amy and I were excited […]

An Acorn Did That?

  I finished my shower, toweled off then walked into the bedroom.  My wife’s eyes momentarily twinkled until she saw the baseball sized bruise on the left side of my chest, just above the third rib. “What on earth happened to you?” “Oh that? An acorn did that.” She shook her head and frowned.  “You’re […]

Bovinova!

Anyone can cook a whole hog, it’s not as daunting a task as it may seem.  In the South, that kind of cooking happens every weekend.  Whole hog BBQ is usually done in support of a big event such as a birthday party, church gathering or a fundraiser for a local charity.  But if one […]

15

  Father and son, both shirtless, we stood in front of the mirror, razors in hand.  He carefully mimicked my actions as we applied a thin sheen of Gillette’s best before he hefted the razor suspiciously. “You don’t need to rush this,” I offered.  “These blades may be incredibly thin but they’re unimaginably sharp.  So […]

Kid Stuff

This essay originally appeared in the September 2002 issue of Smithsonian Air & Space Magazine   The Beechcraft King Air 200 has shut down; the passengers disembarked and as the pilots are walking away I whisper into my 4-year-old son’s ear “Wave at the pilots”.  It works like a charm.  One of the pilots walks […]

The Trail less Taken

With sincere apologies to the memory of Robert Frost   Two trails diverged in a Carolina wood And I with but a second to choose with two other cyclists bearing down quickly thinking I was their trail riding food I looked down one saw blackberries bent up to here Then took the other, thinking it […]