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Qinghong ShenDressing As If You've Given Up On LifeLast year, the locker rooms were under renovation at my gym. Each morning, I headed to a tiny, co-ed space where, for obvious reasons, no one was allowed…
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Years ago, I wanted my friend, Meredith, to take me with her on a camping trip to Lake George. I deliberately didn’t tell her that I knew nothing about…
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Look Before You Leap
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Sparks of Joy
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Open Mic: What, Me, Worry?I tend to worry. Frankly, these days we have a lot to worry about. To be honest, my worrying is not a new problem. During our wedding ceremony years ago,…
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We find ourselves in fearful times. Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Maybe not.It’s true that some fears…
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This year, the world marked the end of an era, as the last video cassette recorder rolled off the assembly line in Japan. Here in Virginia, locals marked…
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My father gave me my first car, a 1965 Ford Fairlane. Although I had my driver’s license, I didn’t know out how to back up, park, or merge. To be honest,…
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It’s graduation season, and millions of young people are collecting diplomas – but they’re not alone. More and more older Americans are wrapping up a…
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It’s been about a year now since a quick stop at the hardware store to pick up some duct tape and grass seed turned us into part-time poultry farmers.Not…
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Open Mic: Irresponsibly Grown...Recently, as I walked through the produce section of a grocery store, I passed a sign that said, “Responsibly Grown Potatoes.” Naturally, I began to…
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Mother's Day is coming up. It's a time to reflect on how much our moms have done for us -- and, with the passage of time, how much we can do for them.…
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Before Earnest Hemingway, John Updike, or Breece Pancake, I read books written by Earl Hamner, Jr. His most notable titles, Spencer’s Mountain and The…
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Snow slowly began to rise along the windowsill. Outside, the frozen flag lapped against the frigid pole, the rope clanged against it in the wintry winds.…