Stories by Ted Talley

Ted Talley: Un breve escape I celebrated my 73rd birthday last week in an unusual way, partly by chance and partly by design. Last year I bought into an unbelievably cheap deal at a Cancun, Mexico, resort with a wide range of av... May 11, 2023

OPINION | TED TALLEY: Holy land trip, Easter with family intensifies concerns over politicians’ lack of action to end shootings Easter was especially meaningful for reasons both far away and very close to home.Quite far away and yet less than three months ago, I visited the Holy Land in a tour led by the minister of my Bentonv... April 13, 2023

OPINION | TED TALLEY: The Bobby Hopper Tunnel might be a perfect border crossing for a seceded NWA I'm flabbergasted! Finally, there's an idea issuing from U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's discombobulated brain with which I can agree. Last week, in a modification of her preposterous p... March 9, 2023

OPINION | TED TALLEY: Lawmakers wary of “drag” want to go back to the good ol’ days? Not to spoil the mood, but … Give our new governor her due. She's carried through on at least one campaign promise Tuesday night, taking on the left-wing Biden agenda before a national TV audience. Anyone placing bets as to h... February 9, 2023

OPINION | TED TALLEY: Attempt at Christmastime travel turns into a sticky situation Grace under fire and serendipity were the themes of my holiday season. Christmas was spent with my daughter Laura and family in California's Sonoma wine country. As I headed out pre-dawn the eve o... January 12, 2023

OPINION | TED TALLEY: Abundance of culture in NW Arkansas ready for those who take advantage of the opportunity My work life often brought me to corporate headquarters in Connecticut and New Jersey. During those years I heard some co-workers there opine that though they loved visiting the South, they could neve... December 8, 2022

OPINION | TED TALLEY: Election 2022 brought with it emotions for the nation Two weeks ago, I cast my mid-term election vote early at the Benton County Courthouse Annex in Bentonville. I've voted there in other elections, but in this case the atmosphere seemed different. M... November 10, 2022

Ted Talley: Wine glasses, oatmeal cakes Mere weeks from now Donald Trump, in essence, will be elected the next governor of Arkansas.Sarah Huckabee Sanders, like virtually all Republicans in this state and nationwide, has supplicated herself... October 13, 2022

OPINION | TED TALLEY: Aromas — some natural, some concocted — can take us back in time There's a spot on Northwest A Street in Bentonville where the road dips down into the bike trails and woods halfway between the Bentonville Square and my neighborhood, to the north. Descending to ... September 8, 2022

OPINION | TED TALLEY: Expectations of Northwest Arkansas’ cultural, entertainment offerings keep getting higher This Saturday afternoon I'll be front row center at the Walton Arts Center for "My Fair Lady," its 2022-23 Broadway season launch. It will be the third time I've seen a live performa... August 11, 2022

OPINION | TED TALLEY: Music can often discover the keys to our souls There are reasons, some of science and others mystical, that music affects our moods and general feelings of well-being or lack thereof. The key to understanding these dynamics is often found literall... June 9, 2022

OPINION | TED TALLEY: Flights out of region’s airport offer thrilling destinations, but ease of travel turns turbulent at other airports On a bright Sunday morning in March I took the new non-stop service from Bentonville to Kansas City for a Big 12 Conference basketball playoff game. No, there are no scheduled flights from Northwest A... May 12, 2022

OPINION | Ted Talley: Overlooked Maundy Thursday a crucial piece of journey through Holy Week Today is Maundy Thursday, an important day, yet one overlooked by some during Eastertide. Of course, last Sunday was Palm Sunday celebrating Christ's arrival into Jerusalem on a donkey in the Firs... April 14, 2022

OPINION | TED TALLEY: Car clutter caused by cooked clucker customers confounding "Pet peeve" is an odd little term. It comes from Latin meaning "perverse." In my dotage, I find little perversities in daily life are quite peeving. I offer but a few.• Chick-... March 10, 2022

OPINION | TED TALLEY: Channeling one's inner Lebowitz, Northwest Arkansas style It is a grand cliché to say Northwest Arkansas has changed over decades. I certainly enjoy the accouterments attached to our status as a world commerce capital and newer credentials as national... February 10, 2022

OPINION | TED TALLEY: In the never-ending search for happy days, perhaps being a good neighbor will have to do "Happier days are definitely ahead for you. The struggle has ended."So read my fortune cookie when my preteen granddaughter and I enjoyed Asian food after "Mean Girls" at the Walto... January 13, 2022

OPINION | TED TALLEY: Honk if you ... can fit your thoughts on a bumper sticker The reality of our current day is downright complicated.Yet when presented with real, potential solutions by some statesmen, scientists and philosophers for these complicated problems, our eyes glaze ... December 9, 2021

OPINION | TED TALLEY: Reactions in Arkansas suggest a battle against science, knowledge In late July, mere weeks before schools across the state would open, Dr. Rick Barr, clinical director of Arkansas Children's Hospital, raised concerns about covid cases among children increasing by 50... November 11, 2021

OPINION | TED TALLEY: No matter how hard we try, our speech gives our roots away A Facebook friend shared an interesting diversion that promised to identify one's geographic and demographic roots through dialect. I approached with a bit of suspicion. As I do those seemingly innoce... October 14, 2021

OPINION | TED TALLEY: Daughter's death brings out anger over covid-19 policies "Ted, are you okay?" "How are you doing? Do you want to talk?" Such texts from dear ones have chimed into my phone since I shared the news of the covid death of my youngest daughter, Kathryn, two we... September 9, 2021

OPINION | TED TALLEY: For the greater good The deadly covid surge and the related, stymied vaccination campaign have me lately thinking of the mid-20th century -- literally in the middle of, not retro kitchen decor -- when children and adults ... August 12, 2021

OPINION | TED TALLEY: North, to Alaska My bucket list has a new check mark. After a trip to Alaska last week, I've set foot in all 50 of our great United States. Travel is broadening, meaning it provides understanding of things not in one... July 8, 2021

TED TALLEY: Tickled ivory memories I recently made a trip to the Louisiana hometown to retrieve my late mother's piano. Neither of my sisters had need for it. Today this striking upright Steinway is in a new place of honor in my Arkans... June 10, 2021

TED TALLEY: Scents of a woman Some weeks ago I found myself in Belk's Department Store in Rogers when Mother's Day merchandising and signage were in full array. An aside: I pause to consider that previous phrase. How easily from ... May 13, 2021

TED TALLEY: An Easter revival A recurring question regarding everyday life in these pandemic times has been "When will things get back to normal?" Easter Sunday morning service at my Bentonville church , celebrating what is arguab... April 8, 2021

TED TALLEY: Virtual stupidity The pandemic has inured most of us to tragic circumstances. I say most, because certainly family and friends of those 500,000-plus Americans who have died of covid-19 will not soon forget their dear d... March 11, 2021

TED TALLEY: Enough of NW Arkansas! Lately I've noticed something odd on errands to Harp's and the post office. Given the growth in the area, it's not surprising. Stopped at any traffic light along Bentonville's Walton Boulevard, it's c... February 11, 2021

TED TALLEY: A short trip can be a welcome escape There was a need for escape from dire news of ongoing events still unraveling at the nation's capital and a token of grandfatherly duty that overcame me midday Saturday. So I swung through Bella Vista... January 14, 2021

TED TALLEY: Rising to the occasion A death in the family necessitated a road trip through the Delta down to old home territory in Louisiana last week. I felt duty-bound to go even though the deceased, Lydia Tierney, wasn't a blood rel... November 12, 2020

Ted Talley: A mother’s voice In my September column, I offered memories of my southeast Louisiana roots, delving into the rural side of my upbringing north of that “Creole-Caribbean-Mediterranean mélange that is New Orleans.” But... October 8, 2020

TED TALLEY: What's up this month? Nothing comes to mind Given the nation's state of affairs from plague to politics, I found it hard to approach the keyboard this month to offer you, dear reader, anything of substance. Nothing came to mind. Literally. I r... August 13, 2020

Ted Talley: A muted Fourth of July Fourth of July celebrations were muted this year — a lose-lose proposition. Those who did venture out for personal fireworks and beach parties risked acquiring the plague (even with masking and antise... July 9, 2020

TED TALLEY: A quiet birthday Last week I became a septuagenarian. That appears as if I've joined a religious cult or a dramatic arts society, but it was just another birthday that quietly crossed into my seventh decade. I spent t... May 14, 2020

TED TALLEY: Dread latter days? A weather system speeding diagonally across Texas last Friday caught me off guard as I headed home to Arkansas. Leaving my daughter's Austin apartment, it was 70 degrees with moderate rain, and I was ... April 9, 2020

TED TALLEY: Trouble in Texas Last weekend my trusty 2003 Honda Pilot -- bought used years ago upon retirement and loss of the company pickup -- decided it had made its last trip from the Arkansas Ozarks to Texas' Blackland Prairi... March 12, 2020

TED TALLEY: Making musical memories wherever the journey goes In mid-December 1770, Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany. It's 2020 now and celebration time. Orchestras around the world are commemorating 250th anniversary of the composer's birth. I had... February 13, 2020

TED TALLEY: Here comes Mr. Bingle Many baby boomers who grew up within an hour's drive of any large U.S. city have Christmas memories of shopping treks with Mom and Dad to bustling downtowns bedecked with silver bells and department s... December 12, 2019

TED TALLEY: Hello, "American Pie" On a crisp Friday evening last month inside the vintage Eureka Springs City Auditorium, singer-songwriter Don McLean strode onto stage wearing black jeans and butterscotch cowboy boots. He began singi... November 14, 2019

TED TALLEY: Feeling exposed In the aftermath of my daughter's death in May, my son-in-law and I made a practical plan: He and my three granddaughters would live with me in Bentonville. So I flew to El Paso last week and drove th... August 8, 2019

TED TALLEY: A moon landing in a muddy bayou Those "what were they thinking" headscratcher moments become more frequent the older I get. Take the recent celebration of our nation's birthday on the National Mall that included a mundane showing of... July 11, 2019

TED TALLEY: A husband, father share heartbreak at early loss Last Thursday, under dark clouds threatening torrents as we've seen lately in Northwest Arkansas, two men gathered with friends and family under a somewhat out-of-place, lone pine tree in the old Bent... June 14, 2019

TED TALLEY: Neither Clinton nor Trump suffered stolen presidencies Hillary Clinton is on tour. Like a rock star. During her Los Angeles stop last Saturday, the former two-time Democratic presidential hopeful sat on stage in an upholstered piece (a chair, not her pant... May 9, 2019

TED TALLEY: Book demonstrates limits of compartmental thinking I had lunch last week with a former college professor and his wife -- dear friends who take an interest in my life and retirement-era writing well beyond coursework from last century. His "attaboys" o... April 11, 2019

TED TALLEY: Been there, done that As a parent it is sometimes hard to navigate that line between encouraging a child to think independently, perhaps even differently from Dad, while remaining silent when a child is embracing nonsense ... March 21, 2019

TED TALLEY: Memories delivered through postal box It's a new year. Or so our Gregorian calendar tells us. Should we believe it? Are we really in 2019 or is it fake news? After all, the calendar we use in much of the modern world isn't all that modern... January 10, 2019

TED TALLEY: Soothing sounds of silence Growing up in mid-century, small-town life where that obscure boot toe of Louisiana meets the notch of Mississippi dipping into the Gulf of Mexico, I had a surprisingly broad education. Though the fam... December 13, 2018

TED TALLEY: Lessons from Tuesday Phew! It's over. Well, almost. Win or lose, most of us should be happy the 2018 mid-terms, state and local elections are done. The only ones who suffer at the end of recent campaigns are media sales p... November 8, 2018

TED TALLEY: A tale of two visits As "Animal House" and "American Pie" sequels continued in the judiciary hearing chambers and on cable news 24/7 recently, I actually did what grandstanding Hollywood types merely threaten when any Rep... October 17, 2018

TED TALLEY: The musical change of seasons August heat continues, yet summer nears an end. Seasons don't technically change until the Sept. 22 equinox, but events approaching on the calendar tell us autumn leaves will soon be aflutter. Just as... August 9, 2018