Orangeburg a small agricultural city? No way. Of the 10 biggest manufacturing plants in central South Carolina, it’s the only one, including Columbia, which can claim two.
Number 1, Louis Rich (chicken processing) in Newberry employs 2,229. Number 2 is another chicken company, Pilgrim’s Pride in Sumter, 2,050.
How many years has it been since restaurants started using those square pagers that light up and vibrate in your hand to let you know your table is ready? A novel idea in its time, the gadget has made its way into many other areas of life, including health care.
Last week, on Tuesday morning to be precise, the hospital volunteer in the outpatient surgical unit handed my husband one of those delightful little twinkle buzzers, which would signal when the unit was ready for me to come to pre-op. Four stomach viruses in eight weeks had told me something might not be exactly right in my system.
Tired of hearing the kids grumble about having nothing to do this summer? When I was a kid, I don’t remember complaining about that because Mama or Nanny could always find more chores for me.
Of course, I had to earn my weekly allowance — doing small stuff like straightening up my room when I was young and bigger jobs when I got older like clipping the boxwood hedge around our house. But my folks were really pretty easy on us. In fact, by most standards, I’d say they spoiled us.
During a two-week combat operation in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, I had the honor of befriending an Afghan Christian. As you will discover in his story, being a Christian in Afghanistan is quite dangerous and hard. To protect his identity I will call this man “Paul” to limit what he already faces on account of his faith.
Interestingly, when I first arrived in Southern Afghanistan, some Afghan Muslims told me there were no Afghan Christians. That they sincerely believed this was quite telling about the numbers of Afghan Christians and what they face. By Islamic law, a Muslim who changes religion is to be put to death. Likewise, a non-Muslim who attempts to bring his faith to a Muslim is to be put to death. This prescription comes from Mohammed’s recorded words: “If a Muslim changes religion, kill him.” How Paul, an interpreter who spoke excellent English, became and remained a Christian is a fascinating story.
My mom has always loved gardening. Unfortunately, the older she gets, the less success she seems to have.
As she has become less mobile and less able to care for things in the yard, my sisters and I have been trying to think of ways to ease her frustration and provide her with a few satisfying reminders of the beauty and fruitfulness of gardening.
By WES MURPHY
Those of you who regularly read this column know that my father-in-law, Don Adams, passed away a few weeks ago. A friend or family member passing often causes me to reflect on what they meant to me and how they have affected my life. Many people have had a great impact on my life, and Don was one of the more influential.
He was one of those people who not only talked about how important his family was, but lived that philosophy as well.
Hindus observe the sacred full moon day in the month of Ashad (between late June and early July) as a day of pooja (worship) and prayers to pay homage to the entire line of spiritual masters from the Vedic times to the present day. The place of guru, spiritual master, in Hinduism is as high as the place of the Lord, if not higher.
Every human aims at being happy; yet, we all are suffering. The cause of suffering is being ignorant about the nature of one’s own true self. Until one gets acquainted with it, he is a stranger to his own self. Ramdas, in Dasbodh, says, “After long time I have met myself.” Guru’s task is to impart knowledge of the supreme and enlighten that divinity, which is inherent in every human being, in his aspirant. In addition, Ramdas states: By realizing Divinity, “the jiva (individual) becomes the Shiva (God, to be one with the Creator); if not the jiva is just a shava (a corpse, a mortal).”
Kinda scary word that— apocalypse. Means catastrophe, disaster, end of the world … cheery stuff like that!
All the worldwide political upheaval, natural calamity, war and mayhem, and rumors of such, not to mention the worrisome condition of the (apparently) faltering economy in our own country — having to sell your house, pawn your golf clubs and force your children to labor in the fields just to pay for your gasoline — has many folks on edge and moaning, “What the heck next?”
Strawberries, blackberries and blueberries have yielded so many wonderful desserts so far this summer. What with tasty trifles, fabulous fruit-topped cheesecakes, tangy tarts and fruit pies, as well as chocolate-dipped and yogurt-dipped fruits, summer is enough to make our taste buds go into overdrive! Though I enjoy every fruit of the season, I must say that peaches are my favorite.
My family spent every summer at Lake Marion, which is mega-blessed with pick-your-own peach orchards. And, hands down, my mother made the absolute best cobbler in the world! Aunt Frances Metts makes an excellent cobbler, and recently, my stepmother Jeanette Mizzell has begun trying her hand at cobblers using various fruits. She is “catching on” quite nicely. I tasted her blackberry cobbler two weeks ago, and it was great!
