The Old Magnolia Tree

When our family lived in Durham, North Carolina, for the second time between the years of 1963 and 1971, we lived in an area that was a boyhood dream. In our back yard, less than 20 yards from the house, was an old log cabin with remnants of a linoleum floor and a covered hole in the wall that was once for a stovepipe. The cabin had been a dwelling at one time. Just across the street, was the eastern boundary of Duke Forest, in which my neighborhood friends and I had a network of paths and forts extending almost to Orange County to the east.

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Close Encounter of the Iconic Kind

It’s not likely to go through life without having some form of contact with someone well-known, whether it be a professional athlete, a politician, television personality, or some kind of celebrity. I have been fortunate over the years to have known and even become friends with some very famous, popular, and well-known individuals, but the biggest by far was an encounter with a particular screen icon!

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10 Common Causes of Failure

Back in my college days, I read Og Mandino’s book University of Success, which served as such an inspiration that I would refer to it from time to time throughout my professional career. The book is a series of “lessons”, but the one that most inspired me was Lesson 5.

We have found the enemy and they are us.”
– Walt Kelly, creator of comic strip Pogo
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The Starling – A Bird that it’s Okay to Hate

starling

European Starling “Sturnus Vulgaris”

Every Spring when the birds begin to revitalize following several weeks or even months of old man Winter, it never fails that at least one will attempt to domicile in the area next to my window air-conditioning unit. As my desk sits next to that window, I have to bang on the accordion side-panel of the unit with my flashlight to ward them off. Until this year!

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