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Snapshots: Father-Daughter Dance
Submit Your Images! April Theme: “Playful Puppies” Deadline for April: Feb. 28 Submit photos online: www.alabamaliving.coop/submit-photo/ or send color photos with a self-addressed stamped envelope to: Photos, Alabama Living, P.O. Box 244014 Montgomery, AL 36124 Rules: Alabama Living will pay $10 for photos that best match our theme of the month. Photos may also be […]
Your Social Security Benefit Statement (SSA-1099)
Tax season is approaching, and Social Security has made replacing your annual Benefit Statement even easier. The Benefit Statement is also known as the SSA-1099 or the SSA-1042S. Now you can get a copy of your 1099 anytime and anywhere you want using our online services. A Social Security 1099 is a tax form Social […]
Pasta’s simplicity doesn’t deter the many devoted fans of this versatile food. BY JENNIFER KORNEGAY Food/Photography BY BROOKE ECHOLS On its own, pasta is a very uncomplicated food: It consists of just a few ingredients and requires nothing but a pot of boiling water and a few minutes to be cooked and ready to eat. But […]
Rural Alabama paying the price of tobacco use
While several other rural health issues have been receiving greater attention, deaths due to chronic lower respiratory diseases (CLRD) have been increasing dramatically in Alabama’s rural areas. CLRD includes bronchitis, emphysema, asthma, and other respiratory diseases. Between 2000 and 2017, Alabama’s age-adjusted death or mortality rate from CLRD increased by more than 27 percent, […]
WTD: Vintage dining and shopping under one roof
By Lenore Vickrey Fort Payne, Alabama, is known by many as the home of the supergroup Alabama, and for many years as the “sock capital of the world.” But travelers and residents alike know it as the home of a popular restaurant, Vintage 1889 Café, which operates right next to an equally popular antique mall. […]
Alabama People: Ray W. Scott Jr.
No one has influenced bass fishing more than Ray W. Scott Jr. Born in 1933, Scott grew up in Montgomery. As a young man, he began selling insurance until he was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1954. After serving two years on active duty, Scott used his G.I. Bill benefits to earn a business […]
Asparagus tips: Commitment, patience, care
Need some gardening love this month? Start a new long-term relationship with an adored early-season garden delicacy, the asparagus! Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis) is a cool-season, perennial vegetable, native to Europe and Asia, that’s been an adored source of food and medicine for thousands of years. This fern-like plant produces tender shoots (spears) that emerge early […]
Laissez les bons temps rouler*, Bubba
Growing up in the 1950s in South Alabama, I dreaded this time of year. The dark of winter was still upon us and spring seemed a long time coming. To make our situation all the worse, while we slogged through the cold and damp, 100 miles down the road they were celebrating. Mardi Gras in […]
State taking steps to bring back wild quail
For centuries, sportsmen pursued bobwhite quail across the South, but in the past few decades, populations of these wild birds plunged. Today, people mostly hunt pen-raised quail on commercial preserves. “The wild quail population in Alabama and across the Southeast has been going down since the 1960s,” says Steve Mitchell, an Alabama Department of Conservation […]
Seven low-cost energy tips for renters
By Pat Keegan and Brad Thiessen Q: It’s great to read about all the ways energy efficiency improvements to the home can save money, but what about folks who are renting or don’t have a lot of money to spend? Are there things we can do to reduce our energy bills? A: That’s an excellent question. Not […]
Sites preserve, interpret black history in Alabama
We are not makers of history, we are made by history. – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. By Marilyn Jones | Photos by Marilyn Jones except where noted “With February designated as Black History Month, Alabamians have the unique opportunity to visit many important civil rights sites that are just a short drive away, or maybe […]
Theatrical work weaves stories of love from Alabama’s history
By M.J. Ellington As Valentine’s Day approaches, a theatrical work is taking shape, one that will explore the theme of love by drawing from the real-life stories found in 200 years of correspondence at the Alabama Department of Archives and History. The production will use letters, poems, music and acting to highlight many kinds of […]
The State of Camellias: How an Asian import became Alabama’s State Flower
By Katie Lamar Jackson It’s adorned landscapes, tabletops and even the gowns of first ladies here in Alabama for more than 200 years, but how did the camellia, an import from Asia, become our state flower 60 years ago? That story is a tale of adoration, tenacity and a bit of conflict that will be […]