Smith: Daylight waxes and wanes

In case you haven’t noticed, daylight is coming just a little later now. That trend will continue as the calendar moves toward the cooler temperatures of autumn and then winter. I don’t live by the moon and stars.

Smith: Of grapes and wine

Since my college years at the University of Georgia, I have had a long-standing affinity for grapes. That’s when I first had an opportunity to partake in this extraordinary fruit.

Smith: Jacques Bergerac

While I am not a pack rat, I tend to hang on to anything that can be filed away. Then I forget where I filed it or the name of the folder which has treasured flashback content.

Smith: European summer vacation

It is difficult to book a seat on a plane or find an empty hotel room almost anywhere in Europe in the summertime. The continent is overrun with tourists, many of whom are students who head over for studies abroad or in-depth tours.

Smith: Appreciating all things Irish

I have always been told my forebears were Scots Irish, but I have never had the urge or the time to explore the past, although it would be nice to know that, perhaps, one of my ancient kin tossed the caber with Rob Roy or enjoyed a wee dram of Bushmills with Michael Collins.

Smith: Remembering Lewis Grizzard

I stopped in Moreland recently after a trip to Greenville, which is in the heart of the Pine Mountain Range, one of the most becoming and emotionally uplifting strips of geography in our state.

Smith: New life for hometown newspapers

Lately, I’ve been hanging out with a few newspaper publishers who remain convinced print journalism is not dead. They are not doomsayers. They are intrepid entrepreneurs.

Smith: Remembering Missouri summers

Owing to a golf friendship, there was an annual trip to Kansas City in June for several years, which allowed me the opportunity to explore the Show Me State, which reminded me so much of our own Peach State. Missouri and Georgia feature almost identical geography.

Smith: Remembering D-Day

The anniversary of the first week of the D-Day invasion recently passed.

Smith: An Ode to Athens

There are many cases where generation after generation follow in the footsteps of their forebears, living in the same neighborhood and engaging in the same occupation – great-grandfather to grandfather to father to son.