Generally, from a gardening standpoint, I enjoy the month of January. Typically, I peruse the garden catalogues that arrive this time of year, daydreaming about the possibilities my garden might produce. However, reading the garden catalogues recently has not given me a great deal of enjoyment for the simple reason that my garden, like me, is maturing.

Martha Flowers came to her Chapel Hill front door prepared for her photo shoot, looking every bit like a diva: dressed for a concert, pearl necklace and a smile that could — and did — light up Broadway.

Nearly every recap and review of last year will begin with some variation of this sentence: 2020 was an unusual year. In place of “unusual,” it may say “unprecedented” or “difficult” or some other pejorative, but without a doubt, 2020 will be remembered.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, there may not have been a gym full of students and teachers for the fanfare that goes with a standard signing…

Not that Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States from Plains, Georgia. We’re talking about the other Jimmy Carter, the metalsmith and jewelry shop owner in Carr Mill Mall. He is who we’re appreciating today. That being said, Jimmy Carter is a big fan of Jimmy Carter.

Many people who love watching birds focus their attention on nest boxes in the spring and summer in the hope of seeing avian parents bringing food to nestlings — and if they’re lucky, getting to see the young leave the nest and fly for the first time.

Well, it’s definitely going to be a Thanksgiving like no other. Thanks to COVID-19, many families across Chapel Hill and Carrboro won’t be gathering, or not nearly in the same large numbers. The kids — now dispersed to Brooklyn and Buffalo — likely are not coming home this year.

I didn’t ride BMX bikes when I was a kid, but plenty of kids I knew did.  There was even a (sort of) hit BMX movie in 1986, “Rad,” which included a very young Lori Loughlin and plenty of awesome biking sequences.