Identify and place this Alabama landmark and you could win $25! Winner is chosen at random from all correct entries. Multiple entries from the same person will be disqualified. Send your answer by Aug. 7 with your name, address and the name of your rural electric cooperative. The winner and answer will be announced in the September issue.
Submit by email: whereville@alabamaliving.coop, or by mail: Whereville, P.O. Box 244014, Montgomery, AL 36124.
Contribute your own photo for an upcoming issue! Send a photo of an interesting or unusual landmark in Alabama, which must be accessible to the public. A reader whose photo is chosen will also win $25.
July’s answer
In mid-2018, DeSoto State Park naturalist Brittney Hughes conceived the idea of installing an ambitious public art project at DeSoto Falls – transforming the plain cement stairs leading to the viewing platform into a mosaic work of art. On each of the 43 risers is a mosaic of colorful stained-glass pieces, giving the effect of a cascading river flowing down the steps. The lower steps feature a quote from famed naturalist John Muir: “Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” (Information from the Little River Arts Council website) Photo submitted by Morgan Haynes of Cullman EC; the randomly drawn correct guess winner is Mary S. White of Joe Wheeler EMC.
Help the state identify gaps in broadband service
Alabamians are encouraged to take a broadband internet speed survey at alabama.speedsurvey.org to help the state locate gaps in broadband service. The information gathered will be used for planning efforts to help fill those gaps.
The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs administers the Broadband Alabama program, which includes the Broadband Accessibility Fund created by the Alabama Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Kay Ivey. It was created to assist broadband providers in extending high-speed internet service for households, businesses and community anchors in unserved areas of the state or in areas lacking minimum threshold service.
Many Alabama homes and businesses are likely receiving less than the current federal definition of broadband service, which is 25 megabits per second (Mbps) download speed and three Mbps upload speed. The information gathered from the speed survey will help pinpoint the specific areas that lack this coverage. Your address will not be made public and the information will be used solely for the state’s planning efforts.
Letters to the editor
E-mail us at: letters@alabamaliving.coop
or write us at: Letters to the editor
P.O. Box 244014
Montgomery, AL 36124
Inspired by snapper article
I enjoyed your article (Outdoors, May 2020) and decided to go fishing for the first time in 25 years. Caught a whopper of a red snapper. Thanks!
Beverly Haslauer
Orange Beach
Enjoyed column on Kathryn Tucker Windham
I so enjoyed your piece on Kathryn Tucker Windham! (Hardy Jackson’s column, June 2020.) My mother loved her and followed her to many storytelling festivals. She would come back and try to retell the story, but she would always say, “I can’t do it justice like she can.” I lost my mom 5 years ago, but articles like this make me smile as I know she would have appreciated it. So glad you made the memories you did with Kathryn while she was here. My favorite: “If it didn’t happen that way, it should have.” Ha! I’m going to use that line with my writing club!
Audrey Barker
Opelika
Fan of Hardy Jackson
I wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your column in Alabama Living. I just read your story about “Remembering Cousin Kathryn” and thoroughly enjoyed it. I wish I had met her in person! Also, I wanted you to know that you’re included in my book, Amazing Alabama: The Bicentennial Edition (pages 248-249). I quoted your story about “Bicentennial Beers” in this “tour-able history” book. It was listed in your magazine (Alabama Bookshelf, June 2019). Thanks for being so entertaining!
T. (Theresa) Jensen Lacey
Fairhope
Take us along!
Thanks to all our readers who’ve sent us photos of their travels. We realize due to the pandemic, no one’s doing much traveling these days due to the statewide “safer at home” orders, but we enjoy seeing your pictures from past travels. We’re including several on this page. If you have any past photos send them to mytravels@alabamaliving.coop.
We also want to see where you’re reading Alabama Living at home! Send us photos of you or a family member reading the magazine in your favorite home location. Send to athome@alabamaliving.coop.
We’ll draw a winner for a $25 prize each month, so let us hear from you!
Dave and Lavina Thompson of Foley traveled with a group of veterans to the battlefields of Vietnam in March. Members of Baldwin EMC, they returned to the sites where each veteran served and brought their copy of Alabama Living to show their new friends where they live.
Donna and Clyde Barksdale of Section, members of Sand Mountain EC, took their magazine on a Caribbean cruise on the Crown Princess. Donna is shown at the cruise port in Antigua and Clyde is in front of the Parliament Building in Bridgetown, Barbados.
Don’t enjoy exercise? Look for options to get moving
Having trouble getting in enough exercise? People rarely exercise if they don’t enjoy it, even though they know it’s good for them. Here are some ways to get in some physical activity, courtesy of HealthMed Inc.:
■ Nature trails and walking: Find a trail close to your home. Being outside can do wonders for your mood too.
■ Group fitness classes: Many gyms and fitness facilities have reopened with strict safety protocols in place. Zumba, cycling, yoga and more offer a chance to socialize (and socially distance) as well as get healthy.
■ Meet up outside: Take a friend or your child to an outdoor green space and toss a football or baseball around, if it’s not crowded. Just ensure you can stay six feet away from people you don’t live with.
■ Walk and talk: Need to catch up with a friend? Take your phone along on a walk around the park or your neighborhood. You may be a little out of breath, but you’ll at least get to socialize!
