Pryorities

My mother was a great cook. She had one foot solidly planted in southern country cookin’ and the other in an effort at a more sophisticated international cuisine, especially German and Italian. With seemingly little effort, she could work…
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Fond memories reverberate through stacks of wax. I miss records. I’m not talking about CD’s or downloading songs from iTunes. I mean phonograph records. You know, the round vinyl things with the hole in the middle. Okay, I know that…
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A tip of the hat to those who stand at the gate, guarding the rule of law. The most often quoted words from the pen of William Shakespeare appear in part 2 of his history play, Henry VI. In scene 2, the character, Jack Cade, a rebel and…
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Adventures in Animal Avoidance I’ll be the first to admit that I am not a naturalist. I have little interest in wild things, and every time I encounter a wild animal, it proves disastrous. I have never spent time in the woods or hiking…
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She never asked to become the center of our universe. She was, after all, just a baby when we met, and we were not sure we really wanted the aggravation of housebreaking a new puppy. The mistake we made was taking our young…
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A Family Tradition Last year, I was referred to a new doctor in the Dowell Springs medical complex off Middlebrook Pike. I have now been forced to tell that doctor I can no longer come for my appointments because I have gained 15 pounds…
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Story by Robert Pryor, Sr. If you’ve been around any old men lately, you may have noticed that they can be exceedingly grouchy. What it is about old guys? The older they get, the harder they are to get along with. They complain about…
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Encouraging Honesty in a Dishonest World By: Robert Pryor, Sr. I want everyone to know that as a kid growing up in Knoxville, I was always opposed to corporal punishment. Unfortunately, at my house they didn’t give me a vote,…
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Don’t try to tell me there’s no Santa Claus.  I met him once years ago, when he actually came to my house and brought candy for me and my neighborhood friends.  Howard and David Dickens were there, and so were the Seals boys, Larry and…
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The early morning haze and sepia tones created by the early arrival of fall made it difficult to make out the two figures who walked through a hemlock forest along the rails of the Southern Railway.  Closer inspection revealed a strange…
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