David Carroll

Afew days ago, I was listening to a classic country music station, and a 2001 song by Diamond Rio came on. It’s called, “One More Day.” “Last night I had a crazy dream, a wish was granted just for me. It could be for anything. I didn’t ask for money, or a mansion in Malibu. I simply wished for one more day with you.”

Recently, we reminisced about Tang, candy cigarettes, Sugar Babies, and other products from our youth. That opened the floodgates. Many of you shared memories of items we rarely see today. Let’s take another trip down the aisles of the Piggly Wiggly, A & P, and Shop-Rite stores we visited every weekend. I’ve often said that I’ve never encountered a pizza I didn’t like. When people ask me about the best pizza I’ve ever had, I’ll often answer, “The very first one, and they’ve just been getting better ever since.” Truthfully, the first one was probably the worst one. I just didn’t know it at the time. Our family store’s freezer case was always stocked with Chef Boyardee’s frozen pizza. The crust was average, the sauce was bland, and the toppings were little sprinklings of sausage and pepperoni. The chef was not particularly generous with his serving portions.

I’m at the age where people ask me what I will do after I retire. When I tell them I have no idea, they say, “Well, you’ll have more time to fix things around the house.” That’s when my wife begins laughing uncontrollably. I’ve been called many things, but “handyman” is not one of them. When I was growing up, a handyman existed only to help little old ladies who didn’t have a man around the house. Any home with a “real man” had no reason to employ someone to fix the plumbing, the roof, or the electricity. I forfeited my real man card long ago.

explore the origin of some common sayings. After writing several columns about phrases like, “that takes the cake,” and “dead as a doornail,” many of you suggested some others. I figured I had better write another column about those idioms now, or someone would accuse me of “beating around the bush.” Where did that one come from? Oddly enough, it originated from hunters, hundreds of years ago. According to the website “Mental Floss,” it alluded to hunters who would shake bushes and weeds to scare out birds, rabbits, or similar creatures. The critters could then be caught or snared in nets.

Timothy Miller gives me goosebumps. He is the charismatic man in the tuxedo who sings “God Bless America” during the 7th inning stretch at Atlanta Braves games on Sundays. I have enjoyed his performances for the past 18 years, and I can report that he is on a 221-game winning streak, with no end in sight. It is an impressive display of patriotism, each more moving than the last.

Two weeks ago, I asked if there are any celebrities who inspire people like Dolly Parton did. Could anyone else elicit such an outpouring of love? Today, I’ll share your thoughts, and mine. Dolly is a tough act to follow. Her record of kindness and generosity may be impossible to replicate. According to the New York Times, seventy percent of Americans expressed a favorable view of Dolly in a Umass/YouGov poll in March 2026, the highest approval rate for any living person. I’d like to have a word with the other thirty percent, who probably also frown on puppies, homegrown tomatoes, and a cool summer breeze.

People of a certain age enjoy telling our younger friends how things were so much better when we were kids. Of course, they always have a snappy comeback or two. “Oh yeah, life was good before seat belts, right? Y’all must have really enjoyed breathing all that polluted air. I’ll bet it was fun watching 3 black and white TV channels.”

Ivividly remember my first flight. Chattanooga to Memphis, in the late 1960s. My oldest sister had moved there, and my mom and I went to see her. As a kid, I was fascinated. The plane was just like I had seen in the commercials: smiling stewardesses fetching me food and drinks, and space age transportation much like the Jetsons cartoons.

More than a few times over the years, I’ve filled this space with “Facebook Fails” or “Autocorrect Accidents,” a collection of unfortunate misspellings. These word mishaps are caused by technology, confusion, a lack of spelling smarts, or all of the above. I have earned a reputation in my workplace as a stickler when it comes to spelling.