Life at Shady Pines

Pull up a chair and stay awhile. I’ve been thinking about something lately, and maybe it’s because this is my birthday month. Maybe it’s because the older I get, the more I notice things I never paid much attention to when I was younger. Whatever the reason, I’ve realized that the things I appreciate most…

Pull up a chair and stay awhile. I’ve been thinking about conversations lately, and I’ve come to one conclusion that I don’t think anyone can convince me otherwise. The best conversations never start with small talk. Now, don’t get me wrong. Small talk has its place. It’s perfectly fine when you’re standing in line at…

Pull up a chair and stay awhile. I’ve been thinking about something this week, and if you’re anything like me, maybe you’ve noticed it too. When did we stop celebrating ordinary days? I’m not talking about birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, or Christmas morning. Those deserve celebrating, and I hope we never stop making them special. I’m…

Well friends, we’ve made it to the last day of July, and I have to admit I’m not entirely sure how that happened. It seems like just yesterday we were talking about Memorial Day, trying to decide whether it was finally warm enough to call it summer. Now here we are staring down August, wondering…

Well friends, here we are in the last full week of July, and I have reached that point in summer where I am both amazed by how quickly it is passing and convinced that this heat has been with us for approximately fourteen years. I don’t know how both things can be true at the…

Well friends, we’ve reached the middle of July, and I think it’s safe to say that summer has officially unpacked its bags and made itself comfortable. The heat isn’t visiting anymore. It’s moved in permanently, claimed a seat on the couch, and refuses to leave until sometime around October. Every year I forget this part…

Well friends, another Friday has rolled around, and I have reached that point in summer where I am no longer asking how hot it is outside. Instead, I simply assume the answer is “too hot” and plan my day accordingly. July has settled in fully now. The Fourth of July decorations have been packed away,…

Well friends, we have officially arrived at the Fourth of July weekend, which means summer is now in full swing whether we’re ready for it or not. The fireworks stands have appeared on every corner, grocery stores are packed with people buying enough food to feed a small army, and somewhere in every neighborhood there…

Well friends, we have officially reached that part of summer where stepping outside feels like walking directly into someone else’s bad attitude. The heat has settled in fully now, the humidity has stopped pretending to be temporary, and every person in Georgia seems united by one shared activity: complaining about the weather while refusing to…