The Silence of the Trees

Sometime in autumn… I’m outside for reasons other than enjoying nature, my mind dripping with copious thoughts of numerous and diverse things, hurrying along, when suddenly, IT surrounds me like a cloak. You might say . . . IT arrests me. I stop. Look around. Listen....

Aunt Dora’s Light Bread

 My Aunt Dora’s Light Bread Rocks! 2 cups lukewarm water 2 tsp. sugar 2 pkg. yeast 2 cups milk 5 Tbls. sugar 4-1/2 tsp. salt 5 Tbls. Crisco, melted 12 cups flour Dissolve 2 teaspoons sugar in 1-cup water. Sprinkle yeast on top and let stand for 10 minutes. Scald...

The Day the Public Library Stole My Feet

Thanks to John Wayne, most of us remember the Alamo. And because of Bodeen’s lovely screenplay adaptation of I remember Mama, lots of us, well, remember Mama. But get this. I remember *gasp!* before the Internet. Let me tell you a story . . . Once upon a distressing...

Mules Don’t Drool

  Do Mules Rule? Of Course! They were “the bomb” before tractors were invented. Especially for farmers who couldn’t afford farm equipment. Imagine trying to transform acres of rocky, tree-infested soil into bountiful crops without mules and their relatives. Mules...

Ma Dubie’s Hot Bean Dumplings

This is my grandmother’s *Ollie Pear Woods* recipe from the old days when survival meant using EVERYTHING. left-over pinto beans made real juicy with extra water lots of red or green peppers {Grandma Woods grew her own} biscuit dough rolled out very thin and cut...