To the editor:

When young men of Ancient Athens reached the age of 17, they took what was known as “The Athenian Oath.”

Registration for youth basketball with the Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department is open through Saturday, Sept. 30.

“There is no such joy in the tavern as upon the road thereto.”  

— Cormac McCarthy, “Blood Meridian” 

It’s time to sign up for sports with Jackson County Parks and Recreation.

Youth have multiple opportunities to get outdoors this month with a variety of events offered by Haywood County Recreation and Parks.

A bill introduced in the North Carolina House of Representatives would require middle and high school athletes to compete on the team of their sex assignment at birth. Last week lawmakers held a press conference in support of the legislation and multiple speakers cited an instance involving athletes in Macon and Cherokee counties to bolster their case.

Did you know a family in Denmark uses, on average, four single-use grocery bags per year while American families use one per day? 

I’ve been birding in Western North Carolina since I got here in the late 1980s, in my mid-thirties (yes, I’m that old.) 

When I would show up for a birding trip or program, I would be one of the “youngsters.” I kept birding and kept attending events and the constant thing was, we all kept getting older. I have participated in the Balsam Christmas Bird Count since its inception in 2003, and trust me, to see a face under 50 years of age is a novelty. 

As a reader, I tend to get on jags with authors whom I admire. Recently, I’ve discovered the work of Baron Wormser and have reviewed his nonfiction memoir of living off the grid in New England for 25 years in these pages. An amazing story, an amazing writer. I wanted to read more of his work.