Alabama Gazette - The people's voice of reason

It is July. The hydrangeas are blooming. It has always struck me odd how it is that we can know something is coming up…we know it is on the way, and yet, we are still taken back a little by its...

Summer means different things to different people. To some it probably means nothing more than long days and hot nights. Unless you are a fan of the two…which I happen to be. I’m not sure anymore...

By this time of the year, gardeners have already tilled their ground and formed their rows. They have sown seeds that by now sprouting and growing. The watching and waiting has begun. I like people...

Sometimes, when I am in Montgomery, I make it a point to go out and have lunch with Hank and Audrey. Usually, I take fried chicken. They don’t ever say too much, and neither do I really. Nobody...

Alabama has delivered into the world many an eccentric personalities, one of those being the late Eugene Walter – an entertainer, writer, and chef who engaged in so many varied activities he was...

Now that he is in office, Joe Biden has the task of trying to unite the United States. He says it is his intention. He is committed to it. I think it is possible. I really do. I don’t know how much...

I grew up in the 1970s and 80s, and it was not a time when self-esteem was widely recognized as being terribly important. We did not all get trophies. We were not all winners. I don’t remember any...

I’m not saying we should go all the way back to Luckenbach, Texas…but honky-tonks may need to make a quick comeback because cow hugging has become one of the latest wellness trends. I don’t...

The temperature in my quiet kitchen early in the morning has felt a few degrees cooler this week. I am still drinking coffee out of a cup with a pink flamingo on it, but summer is being ushered out...

Personally, I started thinking things were getting out of balance in the pet department when they put refrigerators at the end of the pet food aisle to keep the latest dog food cold. I mean, I am all...

There are two types of writers in the world: those who can write…and those who want to be able to write. Proofreading is just part of the process. If the deadline allows, it is best to have a...

Even before daybreak, you can hear them singing their happy songs from inside their swinging gourds: the purple martin song. It is their season. They return every year from their winter homes in...

Last week I mentioned in this space how we eat a lot of greens down here in the Black Belt. I am sure other people in other places also eat a variety of greens. There are even people up north who try...

I read articles about the Black Belt sometimes that make me feel like we should all immediately pack up and leave. I don’t know where we should go, but we may not make it if we stay. I read one...

While I do understand that the toilet tissue shortage has been caused by panic buying in response to the coronavirus, I can’t help but to blame Auburn fans to some extent. How much tissue have...

Most people – I think – are paying attention to the 2020 election. Whether watching Trump riding on what seems to be a rising tide, or following the Democratic primaries and caucuses, everybody...

Krystal is the South’s oldest fast food restaurant chain. They have been making little square hamburgers since 1932. Having been around for so long, everybody seems to have a Krystal story. If for...

Over the Christmas season I only lost the car twice. Once I was looking on the opposite side of the mall from where I had parked. I kept setting off my alarm with my keyring, but was too far away to...

I heard it from a friend who heard it from a friend that neighboring Clarke County is trying to become as corrupt as Wilcox County. Good luck. That is a high bar to set, but it is obtainable. If you w...

Everybody puts up a good front don’t they? Or at least they try to. And that is probably what we are supposed to do for the most part. Just by human nature we tend to put our best selves forward....

I was recently a guest on a podcast and some of my readers – specifically my mother and daughters – listened to it. A couple of their friends who were trapped in the car with them at the time had...

Free has become a popular term here as of late. It is a new trend and an old favorite. Not free as in freedom. Not free-minded, or free-spirited, or being a Freebird. I mean free – as in no cost. I...

In response to the fast-paced lives Americans tend to lead, countless books and articles have been written offering ways to simplify life and minimize stress. Typical lifestyle change suggestions...

They tell me the road was paved right before I moved here. Prior to then it was dirt. It is still not nice enough to call a farm-to-market road, but once upon a time there were cotton field along...