Category OldTimes

FOUNDATIONS

We got to poking around (again) around the edges of this semi-permanent feature down the valley and around the bend from the house. We were told by an long-time resident of Goose Creek that this was once a tobacco barn;…

Fold-Down Ink-Well Desks. And Sweater Fuzz

This was the first Story Challenge I put up on my high school’s 50th reunion page. It got no love. So I put it up here–again–for a few blog passersby. Turns out I had told this tale on the blog…

To Us a Child is Born

“The Herdmans were absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world. They lied and stole and smoked cigars and used the Lord’s name in vain. They hit little kids and cussed their teachers and set fire to Fred…

The Way We Were: Time Marches

I only have a few minutes of peace and reflection at the computer-with-coffee this morning. The reason is dental. A gold crown came off while water-picking. As seems to be typical of dental emergencies, the timing was not convenient–on the…

The VBR

This week we’ve been excavating the Very Back Room. It is the kind of task that has a beginning, but once breached, it gushes decisions and piles and pools of anguish of seemingly endless volume. I wrote some thoughts about…

Going With the Flow

Sometimes, not going with the flow has its advantages. Having a handicapped traveler along for the trip to Missouri was an impediment for those able to walk normal distances and speeds along the U MO campus trail. But my (temporary?)…

Red Dogs: Is There Any Other Color?

Because it features Skeeters (“a Million dogs sold”) in our former home town of Wytheville, a friend sent along this video below about the “red hotdog corridor” that cuts a swath through southwest Virginia, across the decades, and well into…

Aesthetics of Dilapidation

I stopped by for a while yesterday afternoon for a picnic north of town, and kept returning my gaze to the lines of a gracefully dilapidated barn on the crest of hill above us. Finally, I could stand it no…