Eyewitness accounts of their explorations in areas around Asheville are fascinating to read today. At first the native folk welcomed the explorers with generosity — especially food. The visitors apparently enjoyed eating possums, which the natives provided them by the hundreds. Accounts reveal that the natives did not eat possum, which they called “dogs.”

Eventually, the explorers wore out their welcome and the locals came up with an ingenuous method to get them to leave. They spread the rumor that people across the mountains in what is the Gatlinburg/Knoxville region were finding yellow metal. The Spaniards instantly lost interest in possum, and the last things seen of them were their shirt tails flapping in the breeze as they skedaddled west.

Then in 1799, gold was finally actually discovered in the USA — right here in North Carolina. Until 1828, North Carolina was our only gold producing state. In 1848, gold was discovered in California and the western migration renewed in earnest. We are left in the Charlotte area with two fascinating old gold mines for tourists to visit today — Gold Hill and Reed’s Mine.

For a pleasant outing, go see them. You might stumble on a nugget.

Which is what I really want to talk about this week ... nuggets.

Ask your children what a nugget is and you’ll probably hear, “A nugget is a chicken thingy you get at MacDonald’s.” Well, yes, but there’s more to the matter than that. Check a dictionary or thesaurus and such words appear as valuable chunk of gold. Or hunk, clump or clod of treasure. What I call a nugget is a small, roughly shaped piece of concentrated value.

Now I’m getting around to the deal. Two young buddies of mine, Debra Harless and Donnis Minx, have entered me into the realm of social media. I now have a blog, a Facebook fan page and am on Twitter. (If some of you saints don’t know what a blog is, it has to do with the Internet. I, too, have had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century). What it
means is that every day I can send you, via e-mail a “Daily Nugget.” We’re not talking chicken here. I’m talking about little, rough-shaped pieces of Southern-fried stuff that pops out of my mind.

You know me; sometimes I’m preachy, sometimes silly, sometimes sentimental, sometimes right, and sometimes wrong. Sometimes I’m a little zany. I always try to be honest to God. I’m patriotic. Usually I’m patient but sometimes I blow my stack. Smart, too. I’m a whole lot smarter than you would ever suspect. These nuggets of daily wit and wisdom are free! I’m hoping to give them away, but you have to want them to get them.

Here’s an example of one of these daily snippets: “You can be Southern-fried no matter where you live. Everyone lives South of somewhere. It is all a matter of the heart.”  Another nugget: “When Jesus went, at 12 years old to the temple, was he surprised that older folk knew so little about God?”

Here’s how to get my Daily Nugget by e-mail. Go to www.thesouthernfriedpreacher.com to enter your e-mail address and sign up. If you’re on Facebook you can go to www.facebook.com/SouthernFriedPreacher, click “Like” and in the left column click “Join My List.”

It’s low-calorie, low-cholesterol, organic and best of all, free! I am beginning to think of myself as a rowdy rooster hopping onto a fence post flapping my wings, and crowing “Good Morning!” to my friends.