The things people use on a daily basis mostly go unnoticed. A watch, knife, or Bible typically doesn’t have a lot of actual value. That is until the person who owned them is gone.

Then the item goes from being a tool to becoming a treasure.

Some of my most valued possessions wouldn’t bring much on the open market. But to me, they are priceless.

When they were given to me, I was grateful, but not appreciative.

I am now.

Growing up in Ashdown, Arkansas, ...

Buying a loaf of sliced bread is something we all take for granted these days, but it has been available commercially for less than 100 years. It was first sold in 1928.

By the 1960s, sliced bread was how most kids in America survived. Not wheat bread or whole grain bread. I’m talking about light bread.

Now, people in different parts of the country call it different things, but in Ashdown, Arkansas, everyone called it, ‘light bread.’

If you’re unsure of what I’m ...

Whoever designed the string-pull on a bag of charcoal needs to know they failed.

And it isn’t just bags of charcoal. It’s also large bags of kitty litter and pet food. You pull the string and it either snaps off in your hand or removes one of your fingers, but it never ever pulls evenly and removes the paper to let you get at what you’re after.

Let me put it this way. If this design were also used to try and ...

Driving my new 1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass, I steered its long front end into the carpet and tile store.

Actually, the Olds wasn’t new, but it was new to me. The person I was about to meet was also new to me. His name was Dennis.

He worked full time as an Ashdown, Arkansas, city cop. The carpet store was a part-time gig. At least then it was part-time.

I also worked multiple jobs. Disc jockey, grocery store employee, and photographer. On this day ...