CJ Woods III’s Story Archive

E-mail From a Stranger

March 28, 2013 | by CJ Woods III

I got an e-mail from a stranger the other day. I did not recognize the name of the sender, but still, I opened it. I was one of ten recipients, and we were all advised to mobilize for the “ham dinner.” This is the thing about the age in which … Read More

Words, Phrases & Sports

March 21, 2013 | by CJ Woods III

By the time this column appears in print, “March Madness,” the term adopted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to describe the basketball tournament it has developed into a spectacularly lucrative business, will be a full-blown epidemic. Official play opened on March 19th, and will end with “one shining … Read More

All Watchdogs, Great and Small

March 14, 2013 | by CJ Woods III

I was sitting in my friend’s kitchen when his “dog alarm” went off. Max The Maltese was barking in the living room. I bent down to touch him: “Keeper Of The Community, Watcher Of The World,” I said. Bill’s brother laughed and mocked the Maltese: “Oh, look, CJ! A leaf … Read More

Maple Syrup Road Trip

March 7, 2013 | by CJ Woods III

A reader sent an e-mail to the Creative Director of this paper and she forwarded it to me. Steve Meneely had read my “Road Trip” column and suggested that someone might take another trip to what he described as “the (only) national maple syrup festival.” So I did. The National … Read More

The Bigger Story

March 7, 2013 | by CJ Woods III

Steve Meneely’s e-mail to the paper gave a link to the National Maple Syrup Festival and while doing my research I felt that, within the story of the festival, there was a bigger story. The festival, in its fifth year, is not just a fun weekend of tree-tapping and maple … Read More