Category: Knoxville
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Dreamy Hearts, Steady Warmth
Happy Valentine’s Day from Knoxville, Tennessee – the city most often ranked by Amazon as “America’s Most Romantic”! To be clear, Knoxville doesn’t currently hold the top spot. That honor goes to San Antonio, Texas, in the most recent Amazon ranking I can locate. That was the 2017 listing. Even after scouring Amazon and Google,…
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Stonehaven’s new edition of The Challenge of Baha’u’llah
My book The Challenge of Baha’u’llah, first published 25 years ago, is now available from Stonehaven Press in a stunning commemorative edition! The new version is revised, expanded, updated, and redesigned. It sports an exquisite fresh cover and easy-on-the-eyes typography. A thorough reformatting provides easier readability and even better ease of reference. You’ll find it at…
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My Prayer for 2018
May each one of us be happy, healthy, and fully engaged with others (especially those whose views and experience may differ from our own). May our country stand as a beacon for racial healing and harmony, for interfaith understanding, for economic justice, for gender equality, for commitment to science, and for borders open to all…
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May Your Nights Be Merry and Bright!
Merry Christmas, dear friends. Plus the happiest of whatever other holidays you may be celebrating this time of year, or any other time. This is a photo I took a couple of days ago of a house just down the street from the East Knoxville home Cheri and I inhabit. A fitting tribute to the…
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Knoxville in Bloom
Here’s hoping you’re enjoying spring as much as we are. As Knoxville gears up for its annual Dogwood Arts Festival, all our flowering trees, of whatever species, are getting into the spirit. Here are a couple of photos from our eastside Chilhowee Park neighborhood. This first one is the home of our friends, Pete and…
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What Our Jonquils Know About Climate Change
Earlier this month (February 2017) the outdoor temperature was 77 degrees F. Even in the previous month, January, the mercury often registered above 60 degrees — and rarely fell below high 40s to mid 50s. This in East Tennessee! When I moved here in 1977, sub-zero temperatures were commonplace for January and even mid-February. (I…
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Our 30th Ana(versary)gram!
I can’t let 2016 escape without noting that this was the year Cheri and I celebrated our 30th anniversary. Three adventure-filled decades ago, we committed ourselves to making our union “as a fortress for well-being and salvation”. That’s how Baha’u’llah describes it in the Prayer for Marriage. That, for us, has been the way it…
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Does Gary Matthews Really Cut His Own Hair With a Vacuum Cleaner?
Short answer: Yes! I cut my own hair – and yes, with a vacuum cleaner. The slightly longer, just slightly more precise answer is that I use a vacuum cleaner attachment called a Flowbee. I can hardly believe this works. And I can even less believe that I’m owning up to it. Here’s the story:…
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The Healing Power of Anagrams
Cheri and I benefit from the work of two exceptionally gifted healers: Dr. Rocio Huet, our primary-care physician; and Dr. Craig Hennie, our chiropractor. I’m therefore pleased to note that the letters in “Rocio Huet, healer” rearrange to spell “Hoorah! Elite cure”. And that those in “Doctor Craig Hennie” also spell out “condition recharge”. In…
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The Most Romantic Valentine City
Happy Valentine’s Day from America’s Most Consistently Romantic City — Knoxville, Tennessee, home of “Notes from Stonehaven”. Â Okay, so I had to weasel-word that (with “consistently”) in order to justify the “most” boast. Technically, Knoxville was bumped this year from first to third place by the new champ, Alexandria, Virginia. Congratulations, Alexandria. Don’t get used…
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What’s More Practical Than Being Happy?
Nothing! This principle — the practicality of happiness — was first impressed upon me some years ago during a meeting of the Knoxville Baha’i assembly. We had decided to send a gift as a token of appreciation to a wonderful lady who had provided heroic service to the community. An assembly member named Betty suggested…
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It Happened Almost at our Door!
Knoxville school bus crash kills two students, injures many more. Tragedies hit home, especially when they involve children. Way too many of those, these days. But when one lands practically on your doorstep! Cheri and I still are reeling. What really flattened us was the way we found out about it. We’re fixing dinner in the…