By Tom Poland, A Southern WriterTomPoland.net I visit cemeteries never knowing what I’ll find. February 10, a cemetery gave me a story that has the elements of a great movie—risk, bravery, tragedy, the largest fire in the country, and a drunken sailor with wobbly feet. The story actually began whenContinue Reading
The split-rail fence, in harmony with the earth. By Tom Poland, A Southern WriterTomPoland.net A fence has become more than a way to mark property — delineate — as a five-dollar word goes. “I put that fence up to delineate precisely where my line runs.” Redundant. To delineate is toContinue Reading
By Tom Poland, A Southern WriterTomPoland.net Man Will Always Wage War I remember the Vietnam anti-war protests at the University of Georgia. Some group firebombed the Army ROTC building and I recall four protestors walking abreast holding a “Stop War Now” banner. “Stop war now” chanted the throng behind them.Continue Reading
By Tom Poland, A Southern WriterTomPoland.net Mom never darkened the door of a juke joint, but that didn’t stop her from rendering a harsh judgment. “The only people who go to juke joints are drunks and floozies.” I have a hunch where her belief came from. Early in her marriage,Continue Reading
By Tom Poland, A Southern WriterTomPoland.net Roads tell stories. I’ve come across the “Mule Kick That Killed Eight People” in Edgefield County. I’ve seen stores fall to arsonists along Highway 378. I’ve seen homes go dark and swallowed by vines, and I’ve seen wheelchair ramps go up as the yearsContinue Reading
By Tom Poland: A Southern Writer TomPoland.net A reader and friend, Zilphy DuRant of Florence, mailed me a letter and clipping from The Post and Courier about an architectural feature I’d never heard of, rain porches. In the clipping Seth Taylor wrote about the Pee Dee being the “birthplace ofContinue Reading
You campers, be careful what you wrap in aluminum foil. By Tom Poland: A Southern Writer Let this harrowing tale serve as a warning. Be careful of what you wrap in aluminum foil. A British judge stopped a man’s 12-year legal battle to dig up a hard drive storing 8,000Continue Reading
By Tom PolandTomPoland.net No more glory years, a beauty nonetheless. A junkyard hiding in woods surprised me. Old cars and pick-ups sat at odd angles, a senior citizen social of sorts. The years had extracted their toll. A sedan’s hood was up as if she had died in the midstContinue Reading
By Tom PolandTomPoland.net By Tom Poland: A Southern Writer TomPoland.net It’s annually voted the most popular Christmas song. Perhaps it’s the most controversial. When Savannah resident James L. Pierpont composed the song he sowed the seeds for a dispute. Pierpont wrote his Christmas classic in the autumn of 1857. YouContinue Reading
One man’s fear is another man’s career. By Tom PolandTomPoland.net Come the cold, dormant months, few snakes, if any, are out and about. Perhaps winter makes a good time to read about the critters many fear. You know, the only good snake is a dead snake. The irrational fear ofContinue Reading
You must be logged in to post a comment.