An article in the Washington Post tells us are becoming a nation of homebodies. So, when I went to Winston-Salem last week to hold a seminar, it was my intention this would be my last time there in person. I would do this program remotely online in the future.

The program was lively with lots of participation by everyone. As people fully participated in give and take, I slowly realized I was not ready to say goodbye to anyone.

So, it is with me in other locations as well. While technology can replace a great deal, it is not yet a good substitute for being there, looking and listening to people face to face.

Being a full-time homebody is something I want to resist until I cannot.

While we know that being alone and feeling that way can cause serious depression, we continue to learn that it is in being with people that is perhaps the best way to fight back.

For me, the best may yet be still out there. I don't want to miss it. I can be a homebody when I have to be, not before.

In late March of this year, I lost $2,000 one afternoon to an online scam that I should have seen coming from a mile away. But I didn't and allowed my laptop to become infected by bad actors, acting from a place in India.

After striking out at getting my computer made safe again at a big box store with so called experts, I turned to my good friend Todd Boufford who is Senior Vice President of Technology and Innovation at Dogwood State Bank.

In a matter of a few hours, he had diagnosed the problem, fixed it and given me advice on how to protect myself going forward.

In this comprehensive podcast, he can do the same for you. He talks about Passwords and Emails, Identity Theft and Personal Property, Networking and Websites, and even Artificial Intelligence.

Consider spending some time with Todd. You, your computer and bank account will be glad you did.

Rick Thames was 26 years old and a new reporter for the Fayetteville Observer when he moved to Raleigh in the summer of 1979 to cover the Jeffrey MacDonald murder trial.

Now, after a remarkable career in journalism, including stops as Editor at the Wichita Eagle and the Charlotte Observer, Rick sits down with me to recall those weeks that summer when he had a front row seat for the murder trial of Jeffrey MacDonald.

He remembers it all, saying the moment the jury announced their verdict of guilty was one of the most explosive moments he had ever seen.

Rick tells his thoughts about the trial, the evidence and the very questions he asked MacDonald one day at lunch that summer.

The three birthdays I remember most are when I became a teenage, when I turned 16 got my drivers' license and when I became a legal adult at 21.

Now, many years later, I find that i am still excited about the future, wanting to know what is next. Yes, there are challenges and much depends on my good health continuing, but that has always been true.

None of us are as young as once were, but none of us are as old as we hope to be.

It is in climbing many of the highest peaks in the world that Clark Wright, a long-time attorney from New Bern, North Carolina, says he "feels closer to God and a real sense of peace and contentment".

Fresh from his latest journey in the Andes mountains of Peru, he talks about his love of outdoors and how it has shaped his life and career.

He speaks of his family, his law practice of 43 years, and at the age of 68, the challenges that lie ahead.

"How it feels to be a proud new U.S. citizen on the Fourth of July" is the title of a new opinion piece in the Washington Post today, July 4, 2025. It is written by Emil Stern, now a screenwriter in Los Angeles.

I read his writing in its entirety... it is that meaningful.

Then, some thoughts back to July 4, 1826, the day when Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died.

Finally, on July 4, 1076, forty-nine years ago today. President Ford welcomes the Tall Ships and the nation to New York harbor in a bi-partisan celebration of the 200-year anniversary of out country's birth.

This is the story of a 17-year-old girl who is in a tragic car accident, while sitting in the back seat and what happens to the rest of her life.

Tara Stone suffers from a traumatic and severe brain injury when she is thrown from the car, going over 100 miles per hour.

In a coma for months, she finally awakes to a life of no real awareness, an inability to speak or control her own body, but a life of making all who see her feel better. She is a blessing to all who meet her.

Her parents, Ray and Carolyn Stone, are the supreme example of unconditional love for their daughter as they take care of her and see her every day at the hospitals and eventual nursing homes where she lives the rest of her life.

Tara beats the odds and lives until she is 43, 27 years longer than the doctors originally thought possible.

This story is one of grit, resilience, deep faith and forgiveness.

Friday, June 20 - the first day of summer

In Wilmington for a CLE program, the first person I see is my friend Dick Horgan, who had told me about a week ago, the medicine was not working any longer for him. But here he was, a little thinner, but smiling with a bottle of mimosa for everyone.

We talked for hours about life, the practice of law and the challenges of young people as some of the people there were young parents. Then there was the lawyer, age 77, who presently has 13 capital murder cases. He does not turn any away.

On Saturday, the next day, I was sitting on a pier overlooking the ocean, having lunch with a number of people, including an old friend and judge, who laughed and talked with me about our mutual friend, Senator Robert Morgan.

For two days, the first days of summer, I spent it with friends talking about the past, present and future, remembering the words of Albert Camus...

"In the depth of winter, I learned there lay within me an invincible summer."