Mainly clear skies. Low 56F. Winds light and variable..

Mainly clear skies. Low 56F. Winds light and variable.

Come join us tomorrow, Aug. 10, at noon in the Cumberland Room to be entertained by four local songwriters (Tommy Hancock, Sandy Allen, Randy Riggs, and Roland Rock) performing their original songs and sharing the stories behind them.

Swerve or Die: Life at My Speed in the First family of NASCAR Racing by Kyle Petty and Ellis Henican. As a member of NASCAR’s “First Family,” Petty grew up on the racetracks with his grandfather Lee (one of the sport’s pioneers), father Richard (winner of 200 races), and uncle Maurice (crew chief and engine builder). In this entertaining autobiography, Petty recalls growing up in small-town North Carolina, where his father wouldn’t let him drive go-karts because they were “too dangerous”--so he rode motorcycles instead. The book focuses on Petty’s own racing career but also discusses songwriting, his role as an NBC NASCAR commentator, and learning to fly a plane, and there’s a heartfelt tribute to his son Adam, a rising racer killed in a crash in 2000. Interestingly, Petty expounds on social issues and their echoes in NASCAR: homophobia (like that faced by driver Tim Richmond when he announced he had AIDS); racism (discussing driver Bubba Wallace’s 2020 movement to ban Confederate flags from NASCAR venues); and diversity in team ownership (NASCAR team owners now include Michael Jordan and Pitbull).

Life on the Mississippi: An Epic American Adventure by Rinker Buck. This book tells the story of journalist Buck’s (The Oregon Trail; Flight of Passage) quest to sail a flatboat 2000 miles down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers from Pittsburgh to New Orleans with a varied crew and many helpers along the way. As the adventurous Buck writes, this four-month journey traced the inland water route often taken in the years between the American Revolution and Civil War. The narrative works as a memoir, a history treatise, and a travel adventure. The author comes to terms with his mother’s death on this journey, but he also places his traveling adventures into a broader historical framework of how flatboats epitomized frontier resilience and ingenuity. Simultaneously, he also explores modern politics and culture, reflects on economic realities both past and present, and considers both ugly and uplifting aspects of American history.

Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe by David Maraniss. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Maraniss depicts the life of stellar athlete Jim Thorpe, who won gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, was an All-American football player at the Carlisle Indian School, made the first class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and played major league baseball for John McGraw’s New York Giants. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, he also faced assimilationist language (“Kill the Indian, Save the Man”) and racism (his medals were unfairly rescinded because he had played minor league baseball), and he struggled with alcohol, money problems, and broken marriages.

How did the hackers escape from the police? They ransomware.

Sugar can do more than make your coffee sweet. For grass-stained clothes, try making a sugar paste to lift the grass stains out of the fabric. Simply make a thick paste with white sugar and warm water, then apply the mixture to the stain and rub gently. Leave the paste on top of the stain for at least an hour. The sticky mixture will absorb the grass stain naturally, and since there are no fats or lipids in sugar, it will easily wash out in a normal wash cycle in your washing machine.

Many major grocery chains have greatly expanded their store brand lines, and their reputation for quality has improved. Chains are highly secretive about who makes their products. But simply compare the ingredients list with name-brand versions to see how close they are. Store brands can run as much as 25 percent less than the name -brand version.

Are people born with photographic memories? Or do they take a while to develop?

Art relieves the stress of caregiving. Spending 45 minutes filling in a coloring book or creating original art brought feelings of greater pleasure and enjoyment and less anxiety and tension to professional caregivers and to family members who are taking care of loved ones.

When you comb your dog, are you left with balls of shed fur? Your garden would love to have that mixed into the soil. Hair is loaded with nitrogen, and when it’s released from the fur, it turns into fertilizer for plants. It does take time to decompose, so it’s best to mix it throughout the soil and let Mother Nature take over. As it slowly decomposes, the hair will also act as a sponge, holding onto moisture and keeping roots hydrated.

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First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.