Flannel Territory

Sitting with Taylor and Craig Lott at their recently opened business The Rugged Reclaimers, I ask them to describe their business to me, partly because I’ve had so much trouble describing it myself. A retailer of reclaimed (and new) goods, it’s tempting to group Rugged Reclaimers in under the moniker of antique or thrift store. But despite the number of antiques and goods usually associated with thrifting (pre-owned men’s flannel shirts, furniture, etc.), “antique” or “thrift store” still doesn’t sound quite right.

Day Trip: Above the Clouds

I had forgotten how exhilarating it is to fly up in the sky. The takeoff, the landing, and the whole experience seems to take your breath away. Maybe that’s because I don’t travel by air as often as I would like. I still think it’s crazy that Katie Howerton and I managed to take time out of our schedules to enjoy a day trip to St. Louis—flown directly out of Jackson. Encouraging a getaway trip to St. Louis might not come across as a typical Our Jackson Home topic. At least that’s what I thought at first.

More Than a Lemonade Stand

The first job I remember having was working a lemonade stand. My cul-de-sac was having a yard sale, and I took my Fisher Price cassette player and microphone out front and sold cold drinks to passersby. My brother and I kept the money in a pencil case, and my mother baked some treats to attract more people. From the very first sale, my brother and I were hooked on lemonade stands. We got more sophisticated as the years went on with handmade signs and slogans.

A View from the Cheap Seats

In the middle of what to some could be considered poetic chaos, there is a disarray of hotel bookings, bus scheduling, vendor organization, food and beverage orders, and official players rosters yet to be released. All those are made by one man. I sat down with Jason Compton, General Manager of the Jackson Generals, who is now in his seventeenth season with the team. The Major League Baseball season has already begun, but the Generals begin on April 7.

A Conversation With: Bobby C. Rogers

I’m seated by a floor-to-ceiling window in a Memphis coffee shop waiting for a former professor of mine. Memphis, because it’s his home turf. I watch the passersby coming and going on this sunny Saturday, and as I’m looking outside, I see Bobby C. Rogers turning the corner of Cooper and Cowden. He is a professor of English at Union University.