The Belle of Star City
A dreaded visit with the writer’s great-aunt turns out to be an education in culture — and a lesson in heartbreak.
Category: Noted
Primitive Playgrounds
For kids in the 1980s in Raleigh, play structures were pretty basic. But, this writer asks, were they really missing anything?
The Magic of Mahjong
This parlor game with Chinese origins combines luck and strategy — but it’s the connection between players that’s the real draw
Simple Life: When Winning is Losing
Misplacing a pair of eyeglasses has Jim Dodson contemplating gains and deficits on a larger scale.
June Poem: Wishing
This poem touches on some of the challenges in society, and what we wish we could do instead.
Sweet Memories: A Journey to Adulthood
Longtime North Carolina poet Stephen E. Smith’s new memoir, The Year We Danced, recounts his eye-opening freshman year at Elon College.
The Poor Man’s Guide to Domestic Bliss
This columnist finds that even unconditional love has its own set of conditions — Recurring Refrigerator Blindness Syndrome among them.
May Poem: After the trout lilies
This poem calls on us to notice spring delights like flowers, grass and mushrooms — and invites us to love the natural world.
Moonbeam by Jessie Rumbley
The sudden, early arrival of her second child launches this mother into a profoundly hard season of life — but also brings joy and gratitude.
April 2024 Poem: Ibis of Guyana
This poem parallels a mother bird building a nest and a parent raising a child before each sends their young off into the world.
True or False? Test Your Knowledge of Local News
What’s in a name? Read on… and see if you know which one of these changes is real.
April Book: Between Two Trailers by J. Dana Trent
In this new memoir, the author examines her own childhood, which was shadowed by her parents’ mental illness and addiction.
Simple Life: An Ever Changing Garden
When a giant old oak tree has to come down, this writer reflects on how his yard and approach to gardening have changed over the decades.
March 2024 Poem: The last time my mother
Debra Kaufman reflects on a melancholy but special time with an aging parent as her memories start to fade.