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Let’s explore the origin of some common sayings. After writing several columns about sayings like, “Sight for Sore Eyes” and “Don’t Fly Off the Handle,” many of you suggested some others. Did your parents ever say, “Well, That Takes the Cake!” Remember the cake walks of your childhood? In the 19th century, community dance contests awarded an actual cake to the winners, cementing “take the cake” as the result of achieving first place honors. Of course, if you were a superb dancer, winning the competition was a piece of cake, right? And winning the cakewalk while leisurely strolling proved how easy it was. That’s why a political candidate who gets 80 percent of the vote is said to have won “in a cakewalk.”

Wet blanket. Spoilsport. Fuddyduddy. Fraidy-cat. Party pooper. Slowpoke. Penny-pincher. Buzzkill. Bob from Accounting. At some point in your life, you’ve doubtless been on either the giving end or receiving end of such disparaging terms.

We were honored to host our 6th annual Farm-to-Table event this weekend at The Silos at Promise Manor – below is a snippet of my heart that I was able to share with all in attendance. I was recently asked in an interview why we saw such importance in farm-to-table dinners and agriculture. It didn’t take me long to begin answering because of my deep roots planted in our family’s 300-acre century farm in Lynchburg, but I realized in that moment that living in these sweet small southern farming towns is such a blessing and gift. The young girl on the other end of the phone was not from here yet she wanted to feel the essence of our why. She wanted me to take her on a journey of beauty and grit that she may had possibly never experienced herself. I had to slow down answering her question because I wanted her to not only hear the words but feel what it means to be rooted in farming. Our children are 6th generation on our family farm and in 2019 when I registered our farm with the state, I realized then that it was no mistake that God had placed our family on that land for such a time as this.

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