Cutter's Word

The Lost Art of Letter Writing: WIT (Wordsmith in Training)

by Megan and Barton Cutter
Published March 2008 Edition, Natural Awakenings

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We now type text message codes into our blackberries and cell phones with one hand, as we multi-task with the other. As society has become more high-tech, we have come to expect communication to be digital and instantaneous and constant. What ever happened to the beautiful art of letter writing?

Christmas Trees Light Holiday for Soldiers

Published in the News and Observer, North Raleigh News Section
December 7, 2007

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Wake Forest- To bring the spirit of Christmas to loved ones with members deployed overseas, Wake Forest Baptist Church on Monday donated 110 trees to soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division and their families living at Fort Brag.

Les Burleson, the church’s Minister of Youth and Missions and a Persian Gulf Vet, last year donated leftover trees from the church’s Christmas tree lot.

The Dog Days of Winter

Published in The North Raleigh News, November 24, 2006

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Honing the habits of holiday hounds can mean happier times for you,  your guests and possibly the Persian rug.

Christmas morning arrives with a floppy-eared puppy beneath the tree. Then he wets the floor- or pounces and the tree comes crashing down. Experts say training can keep the joy of a new pet from turning into a nightmare.

Joining the Men (and Women) Wearing Black

Published in The Tuscaloosa News, August 28, 2000 

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If anyone told me a year ago that I would get involved in a martial art, I would have said they were crazy. For years, I had childhood asthma; I was in and out of hospitals and couldn’t even run without gasping for breath. A few months ago, a couple at my church, Mindy and Eric Young, invited anyone in our church group to participate in Bujinkan Martial Arts, authentic ninja training that traces its lineage through a thousand years. I procrastinated attending until I experienced a personal tragedy and needed to let go of the stress in my life.

Discovering the Roots of My Homeland

Published in the Alabama Celt, Spring, 2003

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Outside my window, I listened to their baa-ing chiming together in harmony on the Isle of Skye. I peeked out my window and saw two lambs jumping and playing beside a recently shaved ram. Before the rest of my family woke up, I opened the door to the bed and breakfast for my early morning walk, and a baby lamb bleated and jumped to the protection of its mother, scaring me as well. I walked across the green hills surrounded by white and black sheep grazing on the rich grass, where white clouds rolled over the hills to the edge of the loch, picking up seashells, pondering how many years the shells had been buried in the rich soil.

Anna's Art

Published in Jubilation, February 2001

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Visual artists have always tapped into emotions, creating new worlds and new perspectives through their art, encouraging others to think about life in new ways. For an artist who has a physical illness, however, coping with disability adds many new challenges as we as altered perspectives.