rachel

She is a truly amazing woman.  I first met her when she was slinging food at the four points gas station and gave me half off on sausage and biscuits after 10am.  Our families are connected over decades through parents and grandparents.  She has always been a journalist and invited me in when she became general manager of the Dyersburg State Gazette.  There were zero reporters other than her when Brandon Hutcheson left and he was later replaced by William Northcutt.  My job was as a "stringer" meaning that I pitched stories to Rachel and then followed up with interviews that were eventually published as "spotlights. "  Some of those folks were Will Bird, Joe Wolfe, Athena Goodall Reed and Jimmy Hester.  With each interview I was introduced to the missions and goals of local people in our community.  I learned a lot from Rachel and the folks that I talked with and made lifelong friends.  As a contributor to SHE magazine I met some new BFFs including Dawn Gordon.  Our interview was at Green Frog which was not a good choice because the music plays all the time.  My interview with Casey Hipps took place here at the cabin though I had known she and her history from visiting her little take out place next to the gigantic yard sale close to Four Points.  Rachel and I were partners in a side venture that began as a pipe dream from a guy who hired us for three months to launch Pioneer Life.  We didn't make any money, but we tried our best.

Rachel is a very talented photographer who does private session for all sorts of events like weddings, graduations and anything in between.  That is called Pioneer also.  She did a photog session with me and Lauren and Reaves a few years ago when Reaves was, shall we say, a sassy young girl.  There were buttercups and iris all around while we posed and whatnot.  Great memories. My favorite is one of all us girls sitting on the front porch steps.  These are my girls.  

I have effectively taken myself out of the political arena into my own life.  Day by day, nobody knows what is up with the POTUS and his minions so I won't worry until a special ed teacher in Munford shoots himself before class.  Which was yesterday.  Trump et al can take a chainsaw to the budget and they will.  I have witnessed many "almost" government shutdowns in my life. The worst was when LP was attending UTM for a social work degree and the money for tuition was not there when she showed up for class.  Mind you, social work is a thankless job these days.  Things look bleak for the least of these.

Resist ^j^

c