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 the […]
May 29, 2016
In Flanders Fields
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Many years ago, I toured the battle site of the Battle of Vicksburg. Green, grassy knolls covered embankments from which cannons blazed death to opposing forces, a hundred years before. Once, the smoke of guns and the shouts and screams of dying and wounded men filled this battlefield. Now, all was quiet and birds sang. […]
May 16, 2016
With One Foot in the Past
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Decoration Day dawned as lovely and serene as only a May day in Oklahoma can. Goshen Cemetery basked beneath an early morning sun. Droplets of dew sparkled like emeralds and rubies on freshly cut grass. Birds sang in ancient cedars, undisturbed by groups of people moving quietly over the cemetery with their bouquets of flowers. […]
May 10, 2016
What Were Her Dreams Made Of?
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Her name was Lydia and I can imagine family and friends called her “Lyddie.” She was my grandmother’s grandmother. Born in 1823, she was a widow who lived by herself on her farm in Georgia. Recently, I read copies of letters she wrote to her daughter, Tep, and to her granddaughter, Edna. One letter is dated 1890. Dear […]
May 8, 2016
Younger Than Springtime
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Susie Latty Day was born in 1906 and blessed this earth with her presence for ninety years but she never seemed old to me. She seemed always younger than springtime. Mom saw amazing changes during her lifetime, from horse and buggy transportation to cars and airplanes and rocket ships that went to the moon. Mom was the mischievous […]
May 3, 2016
Overcoming Tragedy
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Yesterday was the 96-year anniversary of the tornado that destroyed Peggs, Oklahoma. I wrote about that sad event when I was writing feature stories for The Tahlequah Daily Press, in the 1980s. The newspaper story was my blog post here on this site on May 2, three years ago. Yesterday, I put a link to that […]
