Today is my dad’s birthday. I’ve written about him a lot, both here and in my books. Only, in my books he wasn’t called by his name, Bob Day, rather, he showed up here and there as admirable traits in male characters. I couldn’t resist mixing a little of his honesty, strength, and trustworthiness into […]
A Tattered Book
Yesterday, I happened upon a very old diary! It was a 5-year diary and, oh joy! it began in 1953! Can you believe it? I’ve always preferred reading diaries or journals of people who lived through old times because to me those are the truest accounts. This was evidently the journal of a young farm […]
In the Untamed Woods
This morning, I came across an account I’d almost forgotten about. It’s written by my grandmother’s uncle and came by way of the Indian Pioneer History Project for Oklahoma. What degree of an uncle would he be to me? I haven’t the slightest, but his grandfather would have been my third great-grandfather. I found this […]
The Dinner Table
What has happened to the family dinner table? Is it there somewhere in the dining room, feeling lonely and neglected? In my opinion, it should be the focal point of togetherness. I’m privileged to have my mother’s dining table. It is well over a hundred years old, rescued from obscurity when she saw it on […]
The Comfort of Quilts
The Ozarks Mountaineer was a wonderful magazine that, sadly, ceased publishing a few years ago. My piece about my grandmother’s quilts found a home in that magazine in December 1998. This was a story as my mother told it to me. Today’s post is excerpted from that story. Quilting is an ancient craft which still […]
A Strong Foundation
·If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? —Psalm 11:3 Before a builder builds a house, he pours a foundation. If the foundation is not solid, the house has problems. Sometimes, a foundation is firm to begin with, but, through the years, things happen. Water can seep in, causing cracks. A too dry climate […]