Thomas Brooks stood on the first tee of Lake Southerness Golf club on a beautiful early spring afternoon. It was a Thursday in mid-March. He was preparing to tee off and walk nine holes. “Excuse me, sir, but are you by yourself? Want to play together?” came a voice from behind him. It was from a man who had just… Read moreOutdriven
The girl was a good girl. For Christmas she had asked for a BB gun, a football and a Bible. When she awoke on Christmas morning all three were there under the tree. On this particular spring evening the girl sat with her BB gun on the concrete steps at the side of her house. She was shooting at the… Read moreA Shootin’ Contest
I had to give Bubba-Bubba credit for this one. After years of us playing pick-up games in his side yard, which was a huge flood plain that was perfect for football, he had managed to put together an actual league made up of teams from four different streets in the neighborhood. Hence the name, the “Neighborhood Football League.” Bubba-Bubba had… Read moreGirls Can’t Play | Part One
The phone rang Monday afternoon. It was Bubba-Bubba. “We’ve got a problem,” he said. “Snail fell off of the monkey bars today at school and broke his arm. He can’t play on Saturday.” “Oh, man,” I said, “is he okay?” “Yeah, he’s okay, but we’ve got to find somebody to play center and find him fast.” “Can’t he just snap… Read moreGirls Can’t Play | Part Two
Thursday afternoon I rode my bike home from school, did my chores, homework and watched the Match Game. I put on my football gear and walked over to Billy’s. We stopped at Anna’s. She was sitting on her bottom step tying her cleats. The three of us walked down the street to Bubba-Bubba’s. He and Brain were tossing the ball…. Read moreGirls Can’t Play | Part Three
Thomas Brooks sat at the kitchen table by the window, drinking his coffee and gazing at the winter wonderland below. It was a very cold winter morning. Snow had fallen overnight and covered the landscape like a white blanket. He had finished his breakfast of eggs over easy, toast, grits and sausage. The birds had fed earlier, and the squirrels… Read moreA Very Cold Winter
As I was leaving work this past Friday, I asked my buddy Tim what he would be doing for New Year’s. “I’ll be in bed by nine o’clock,” he replied. “Yeah, me too,” I said. I thought for a second and then said, “You know you’re getting old when that’s what you want to do on New Year’s Eve.” We both… Read moreHappy New Year | In Bed By Nine
Santa settled into his La-Z-Boy recliner after a fine dinner of Rare Who Roast Beast and potatoes specially prepared by Mrs. Claus. Santa’s brother in law always said he didn’t know how Santa didn’t weigh five hundred pounds because Mrs. Claus could, beyond any stretch of the imagination, cook. Meat, veggies, breads, cakes, pies, you name it. She needed no recipes… Read moreThe Panda Bus Saves Christmas
If you were a Boomer and grew up in Atlanta, you rode the Pink Pig Flyer at Rich’s Downtown at Christmastime. I’m not sure what salmon colored swine have to do with Christmas, but it was a tradition just like decorating the tree, school plays and the Sears Wish Book. You went to Rich’s with your parents, visited Santa Claus… Read moreThe Pink Pig | A Christmas Tradition
If you were a Boomer and grew up in Atlanta, you rode the Pink Pig Flyer at Rich’s Downtown at Christmastime. I’m not sure what salmon colored swine have to do with Christmas, but it was a tradition just like decorating the tree, school plays and the Sears Wish Book. You went to Rich’s with your parents, visited Santa Claus… Read moreThe Pink Pig | A Christmas Tradition
