When I was a child, my parents, younger brother and I lived for a time on a farm far back in the woods. Trees and bushes and thickets surrounded our house and barn. This is the same place that had the long driveway which was a good race track for a black horse and […]

Summer School at Etta
Times have changed and so have school terms. Today’s blog is the conclusion of the segment begun yesterday about the summer term at Etta Bend around 1915. This is taken from my book, The Heritage of Etta Bend. Although the picture is of an old-time school, it isn’t Etta. The words and story are my mother’s, […]

A Whisper in the Wind
My dear cousin Brian sent me copies of articles he had found which first appeared in a Tahlequah newspaper in 1913. What treasures! News from county communities included quite a few items from Etta. At that time, my mother was seven years old. It was a glimpse into life a hundred years ago. A […]

The Beauty of Brothers
·Today is the birthday of my oldest brother, Tracy. We laugh and call him the Emperor, the boss of the clan. It is also the birthday of my oldest nephew, Clint. In honor of this, I re-post an article I wrote a couple of years ago. My brothers and I often reminisce. Sadly, we don’t […]

Plain Thoughts on Freedom
·…from a plain American woman. I’m not sophisticated or brilliant or particularly discerning. But I do love this country of my forefathers. It is my country too and I would not want to live anywhere else. My thoughts are meandering here and there; so, I’ll just jot them down in no particular order. Tonight when […]

A Tight Grip on Freedom
·I hate war. I hate the thought of it: the separation from loved ones, the pain and death and cruelty and barbarism. What is at the heart of war? Why can we not live, each in his own country, peacefully? “War is hell,” said General Sherman. He should know. He certainly inflicted a lot of it on […]