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Greetings from Carrboro, My understanding is that he was Italian. Born and raised. World War II had ended and he found himself in my father’s hometown of Cincinnati. The English language was not his strongest suit. At all. But his remarkable tenor singing voice most certainly was. And as mass was in Latin, the man’s linguistic […]

Greetings from Carrboro, Essentially, there were only two. For a dollar more, true bourbon drinkers could order either of two upgrades – Maker’s Mark or Wild Turkey – rather than drink the standard pour of Jim Beam from the rail. Simple. And, true, their cousins from Tennessee, Jack and George (Daniels and Dickel) had their […]

Greetings from Carrboro, All he had to do was wear a damn tie. Well, ok; he did have to pay for all the subsequent expenses associated with his trip. But at the airport, he’d just pick a flight and if there was a spare seat, he’d straighten that well-worn tie and hop on board. One […]

Greetings from Carrboro, The light’s different when I walk the dogs in the morning. The tomatoes brought in from farms are smaller, the vibrant sungolds so remarkably sweet. There’s the earthy smell of the marigolds brought by Wild Hare at the host stand . And I find myself thinking of roasted peppers more than those […]

Greetings from Carrboro, You’re supposed to spit. That’s after the swirling and slushing necessary to mark you as a wine professional. And usually into a champagne bucket or some other necessarily opaque vessel/spittoon. When the server put one on the table, the large man across from me looked alarmed. “You can take that away, mate. […]

Greetings from Carrboro, There they were. Finally. It was a relief after the countless hours of driving through the relentlessly flat middle of America. The majestic Rockies shimmered in the distance. Denver was nigh. Or, well, not. It would be wrong to call the snow-capped image a mirage; the Rockies do, in fact, exist. As […]

Greetings from Carrboro, Fringe is probably the wrong word. And aficionado feels entirely too erudite. But most of us really and truly dig something that distinctly lacks that Taylor-Swift-ian mass appeal. Low budget 70s horror movies. Japanese hip hop. Carnivorous plants. Choose your poison. Some people go so far as to wear T-shirts that say, “Ask Me About […]

Greetings from Carrboro, Some words need to be retired. Or, you know, set aside for a bit – with enough time to get its mojo back. I had a teacher in college who was adamant that we never use the word “share” in anything that we wrote because it had been utterly ruined by the […]

Greetings from Carrboro, Sometimes you learn things in the wrong order. Like finding out that “Ring Around the Rosie” is a really cute song about dying from the black plague a good ten years after the song is embedded in your brain. From then on, the plague is awkwardly linked to kindergarten and giggling. An […]