Smith: Mountain living

Encores that bring about good times in good places make one appreciate life to the fullest and renew faith in mankind that we can find a way to coexist peacefully.When I am where nature and its splendorous attributes prevail, I am overcome with humility and thanksgiving. Glory, glory hallelujah!

Smith: Hedges are a-hummin’

Since fall 1956, it has been my good fortune to have missed only one Georgia game between the hedges — and that was owing to military duty in 1962.

Smith: Trout dreams

Helen. This Georgia mountain town, in an earlier day, was an enclave for bountiful logging opportunities — but then it went into decline and now depends on tourism to survive economically.

Smith: Home tailgating

The tailgate parties, where football aficionados swarm with a passion, which have become centerpieces of campus scenes, don’t just take place near the confines of a stadium — the imposing edifice that originated with the Colosseum in Rome in 80 A.D.

Smith: Sports clubs

While I have not conducted any definitive research, the South seems to be the only region of the country where touchdown and quarterback clubs continue to flourish.For years, there were marquee clubs in big cities with expansive budgets that honored professional, college, and high school athletes.

Smith: October musings

October has long been my favorite month, and while November is the month for Thanksgiving, I always count my blessings during our tenth month, which comes and goes too quickly.In October, there is so much going on in the Great Outdoors.

Smith: Foxworthy & Richt

Jeff Foxworthy recently met with UGA librarian Toby Graham and his staff and called me to see if lunch with Mark Richt could be arranged following his session with the library staff.

Smith: Developing rivalries

Georgia went from 1937 to 1968 without playing Tennessee — more than three decades — and I have often been asked, “Why?”Well, it was a challenging trip in those days, even by train.

Smith: Horace King

There is redeeming serendipity when you interact with a former player who had his day in the sun, overcoming stiff challenges but maturing into senior citizen status with humility and thanksgiving.

Smith: Tommy Lawhorne

Life has thrown A-plus linebacker Tommy Lawhorne a curveball, but the valedictorian of his class, Academic All-America surgeon, and goodwill ambassador extraordinaire has taken a stiff-upper-lip approach to managing illness — just as friends would predict for the handsome native of Sylvester.