Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1183910
WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM NOVEMBER 13-19, 2019 UCW 19 DAN DEBRULER, General Manager, WCLN. Comments? Editor@upandcomingweekly. com. 910-484-6200. MUSIC CROWN COMPLEX 1960 Coliseum Dr. • 910-438-4100 www.crowncomplexnc.com Nov. 18 WKML's Stars & Guitars Nov. 19 Mannheim Steamroller Nov. 23 A Day to Remember: The Degenerates Tour SEABROOK AUDITORIUM Martin Luther King Dr.• (910) 672-1724 Dec. 13 Norman Brown's Joyous Holiday Concert, also starring Bobby Caldwell and Marion Meadows LOUIE'S SPORTS BAR & PUB 2417 Robeson St. • 910- 323-3373 Nov. 15 Matrix Nov. 16 Steel County Express Nov. 22 The Kevin Regan Band Nov. 23 Kenny Huffman Trio THE TAPHOUSE AT HUSKE 411 Hay St.• (910) 426-5650 Nov. 22 Guy Unger Band DIRTBAG ALES 5435 Corporation Dr.• (910) 426-2537 Dec. 2 Brother Ellis OPINION Gratitude on display by DAN DEBRULER Is it officially fall yet? Not by the calendar, but by the way it looks, feels and smells outside? I truly love all weather — the world just seems to be ablaze in color, there's a cer- tain crispness in the air each morn- ing, and the afternoons bring a little jacket weather before the winter offi- cially sets in to send us on daily trips to the woodpile. The fall weather is more than beauty and comfort, though. It's a sign. A signal to us all that the time for gathering as family and friends is just ahead. It's a season for gratitude and thoughtfulness, where the cool- ness of the air outside is perfectly countered by a warmth that seems to grow within us all. We started a new fall tradition in my family a couple of years ago, and I thinks it's a good exercise in humility. The gratitude pumpkin. Maybe you've done this, too, or at least heard about it. The concept is simple: get a pumpkin, place it where it's easily visible to your fam- ily and guests, and use a permanent marker — or paint, for the really artsy among us — to write down things you're grateful for. It doesn't take long to get past the cool stuff and start writing really simple things like health, family or a home, and that's where the gold is. Realizing how immensely blessed we are in our everyday lives. Life — even abundant life — isn't about money or cars or possessions. It's about the relationships we build. It's about the joy we get from, or bring to, others. There is an undeniable joy in the laughter of a toddler, or the tender moments with a new- born. There is joy and much to be thankful for all around us. It just takes us pausing long enough to rec- ognize it. The gratitude pumpkin at our house was so filled with the thankful thoughts we wrote on it last year you could hardly tell it was ever orange at all. And that's how I want to live. I'm ready for the negativity and the pain and the ugliness we see in this crazy, divided world to give way to a sense of gratitude for what we have. There is freedom in that place. There is joy in that place. And there is love in its truest form in the place where gratitude lives. What are you grateful for? Have you heard of the gratitude pumpkin tradition? TIME FLIES. Fayetteville Regional Airport is all about time. More time with family and friends. Less time driving down the highway just to make a flight. Shorter lines. Easier parking. A better airport experience. Why drive, when you can take flight from your own backyard? Time flies. Why waste it driving? Fly Fayetteville. fl y f a y . c o m