Looking Back

Looking Back

Many years ago, I wrote a weekly column for my hometown newspaper, The Tahlequah Daily Press, called Looking Back.  In it, I included articles on Tahlequah’s historic homes, businesses that flourished in the past, and, most importantly, the people of Cherokee County. Articles on my mother’s family, Levi and Edna Latty, were the basis for […]

In a Coil

If you’ve read any Regency romances, you may have come across the phrase, “in a coil”. I think it’s a very apt description and pinpoints the way I often feel. Now, a coil is a tightly wound spring or something that just goes around and around in a circle. Take today, for instance. I really […]

Imagine That!

Imagination is a gift. It is sort of like a beautiful thoroughbred racehorse. It can take me to many places, thrilling, wonderful places, many of which I’ve never seen. With my imagination, I lead adventure after adventure, solve mysteries, and meet exciting people. With my imagination, I can answer that age-old question, What if? On […]

My Grandfather’s Barn — Etta Bend Devotional

My Grandfather’s Barn — Etta Bend Devotional

“He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8) That verse always reminds me of my grandpa, Levi Latty. I can picture him going to his barn to milk, morning and […]

The January Thaw

In the days when my grandparents, Levi and Edna Latty, were on their 300+ acre farm at Etta, Pappy Latty always looked for the January thaw, those few January days when winter paused to take a deep breath and remember that spring would soon be on its way. During the January thaw, Pappy would hitch […]

Etta Bend Devotional–Tep Willis

Etta Bend Devotional–Tep Willis

Etta Bend Devotional January 18–“Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store” (Deuteronomy 28:5). My great-grandmother, Catherine Serepta (Tep) Barker Willis, was an outdoors person as was my grandmother and my mother. I can picture her now, wearing a long-sleeved blouse (she would have called it “waist”) and long skirts that reached the tops of […]