There are quite a few Chris Hardie’s in the world – or at least a few others that share the same name. Years ago when social media was new, I sought a few out and we exchanged some messages. But...

I don’t play the lottery and don’t frequent casinos, but if I were a betting man, I’d lay odds that sometime in the next few years I will be involved in a deer-vehicle collision. A deer crash...

A lot of time and money has been spent in our country coming up with increased security and contingency plans for the possibility of a terrorist or cyber-attack on our electrical grid. With winter weather...

Thanksgiving has come and gone but perhaps this can be the year that we turn a day of thankfulness into a holiday season of gratitude. I can see, smell and hear the ghosts of Thanksgiving’s past when...

Life is measured by the passage of time and the season of deer hunting gives me plenty of moments to reflect on past memories. This is my 47th year of gun deer hunting and there is no place I’d rather...

The end of October and early November brings the fall breeding season for deer, also known as the rut. It’s a time of physiological, behavior and chemical changes for deer as well as for bow hunters...

It was a quiet afternoon with gray skies that threatened rain when I stepped into the Jackson County Poor Farm Cemetery. The gravestones at the Jackson County Poor Farm Cemetery. Located just outside...

It’s as certain as the trees changing colors and the inevitable decline towards winter – the annual invasion of the Asian lady beetles. A warm day after the first hard frost is usually when the...

I learned a long time ago that we don’t live in a black-and-white world and the choices between right and wrong or good and evil are often veiled in shades of gray – no matter what the political ads...

In the middle of one of my ridgetop clearings stands a large shagbark hickory tree that’s nearly 100 feet tall. Those in the know are no longer with us, but I believe the tree was left there for a...

Back Home by Chris Hardie Download this column as a Word document Download the photos that accompany this story Chris Hardie’s headshot Fall is officially here and farmers will soon be...

In spring of 2009, my wife Sherry noticed a classified ad in the paper. For sale: An 11-month-old yellow Labrador. I went to meet her. She was a sweet, energetic puppy. I told the owner we’d be happy...