Roughing It

August 25, 2010

With my kitchen out of commission this past week, I’ve felt as if I were on a camping trip without benefit of Nature’s beauty. My Daddy would say I was “roughing it,” but I realize it’s not so bad. I could have to bring my water in buckets from the river, but instead I can [...]

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Calaboose

July 7, 2010

If you don’t know what a “calaboose” is, then you are lucky! It’s also known as “The Slammer,” “The Brig,” “The Coop,” “The Jug,” “The Pokey,” “The Clink,” “The Joint,” “The Big House.” It’s a jail! This building is in Kemp, Texas … so you might want to mind your manners when you pass through [...]

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Try Walking in HER Shoes

May 30, 2010

“A woman’s work is never done.” That’s the adage that I whine, as I toil in my garden and house trying to get it in shape. I whine very well. However, yesterday I remembered a story about a pioneer woman from this area, that was written by A.C. Greene. I have a collection of his [...]

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The Cave

March 21, 2010

Your lungs feel as if they might explode, if your heart doesn’t give out first. You stumble on rocks you can’t see in the darkness. You can taste the fear at the back of your mouth. Fear is all you have eaten for days as you stumbled across this unfamiliar terrain. But, there is not [...]

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Outlaws in Pilot Point

February 17, 2010

I forgot to tell you the Bonnie and Clyde connection to Pilot Point, Texas. I showed you a picture of the Farmer’s and Merchants Bank (which is now an art gallery), but I didn’t tell you its historical highlight. You didn’t see the bank? Check out the post about “bare nekkid ladies.” It’s not pornographic! [...]

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What Would You Put In A Time Capsule?

February 14, 2010

Have y’all ever been around when a time capsule was opened? I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. Sometimes when laying the cornerstone for a building, folks used to bury a box in it that held memorabilia and artifacts from their time. It was to be opened at a future date, so that the [...]

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Tic Toc

July 20, 2009

Do y’all wake to an alarm clock in the morning? I don’t need an alarm clock, because I have alarm cats. They always decide they need to be fed while I am still sleeping, and will go to great lengths to waken their “mommy.” For the longest time, every morning when I opened my eyes [...]

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Six Degrees From Mother Neff

June 1, 2009

Actually, I think it’s only three degrees. There is a famous American folk musician who has a very convoluted “connection” with Mother Neff State Park in Texas. I asked you to name that folk musician, if you could, in my last My Neck of The Woods post. It was Huddie William Ledbetter, better known as [...]

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Juan Sebastián Elcano

May 19, 2009

It’s natural that in school my favorite subject was History — after all, you can’t have “history” without “story.” While I didn’t enjoy learning dates (for that smacked of my most detested subject: math), I enjoyed reading about the early explorers who “discovered” this continent. Recently I learned the name of one Spanish explorer who [...]

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St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Lindsay, Texas. My Neck Of The Woods

May 9, 2009

Traveling in Texas on US Highway 82 from Paris to Lubbock you are likely to see more beef on the hoof than you will beef patties at the Dairy Queen. It’s mostly a string of small towns with a lot of rolling farmland in between. You will notice the “skyline” of the tiny hamlet of [...]

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Standing In The Shadows

September 19, 2008

You may never have heard of Lil Hardin. I hadn’t until I glanced through a book down at the coffee house. I was intrigued by what I read. Back in the day, Lil was a talented jazz pianist, composer, arranger, singer, and bandleader. We don’t hear much about her, because she decided to promote her [...]

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The Angel of Marye’s Heights

June 13, 2008

I’ve been working on my story repertoire the last few days. In that process, I came upon a tale from the time of the Civil War. Times of conflict can bring out the very best in some people. Richard Rowland Kirkland was one of those people. I wanted to share with you his story (facts [...]

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Yes, We Can Can

March 10, 2008

The first time I saw the Pointer Sisters on television, I thought, “What an unfortunate choice of clothing!” Those gals were dressed in 1940s garb, which wasn’t very stylish back in the 1970s. Heck, it probably wasn’t “stylish” in the 1940s! It looked like something out of my Aunt LaVerta’s closet that she donated to [...]

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A “Wicked Good” Eggnog Recipe

November 25, 2007

‘Tis the season, y’all. This gal’s gotta have her eggnog. Yes, I do love my eggnog, and I have found that I have something in common with George W. Noooo, NOT “The Dubya!” the only things I have in common with him is Texas and the fact that we are both primates [but he is [...]

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The Great Republic of Rough And Ready

April 15, 2007

There are folks who claim that we Texans are prone to bragging a bit. That, my friends, is an understatement. Any Texan worth her salt can expound until the cow’s come home about the virtues of The Lone Star State. You ain’t even gonna believe this, but I, myself, am quite capable of this. I [...]

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Thursday Thirteen–Talkin’ ’bout Texas

April 5, 2007

THIRTEEN THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT TEXAS The first native born Governor of Texas was James Stephen Hogg. He had a daughter whom he christened with the unfortunate name “Ima” after a heroine in a poem. Yes, Ima Hogg. What was that man thinking? Perhaps he thought he would marry her off one day, [...]

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That Woman Was Janis Joplin

March 31, 2007

My hairdresser this morning had a first guess of Anna Nicole Smith. But, my mystery tough woman was Janis Lyn Joplin, who was raised in Port Arthur, Texas. She died in 1970 of a heroin overdose. That the young woman took to drugs so readily would be no surprise considering the decades in which she [...]

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A Woman Who Was Tough

March 31, 2007

“Lyn”s early years gave no clue to the turbulent life she would live. She grew up in a typical small Texas town, in a family that was not out of the ordinary. Her Daddy labored at an oil refinery and her Momma was a domestic goddess. Life was rosy and sweet for the young girl. [...]

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Does Your Chewing Gum Lose It’s Flavor On The Bedpost Overnight?

March 27, 2007

Somehow I missed this story when it was breaking news: In 1994, Susan Montgomery Williams set a world record. Now, don’t you know her Mama’s proud of her? Susan won the bubble-gum-blowing championship with a bubble that was 23 inches in diameter. I have no idea how many sticks of gum she popped into her [...]

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Thanksgiving in April?

March 14, 2007

Can’t get enough turkey and dressing? Personally, I think that one time a year for that meal is probably more than enough, but there is another celebration of Thanksgiving here in Texas. I’ve been to that celebration but, thankfully, do not remember having to eat turkey! I think I ate Mexican food. In El Paso, [...]

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