May 30, 1964 Jocie Brooke here reporting from the offices of the Banner on Main Street, Hollyhill, Kentucky, on Memorial Day. Mama Mae always called it Decoration Day when she took flowers to her husband’s grave. I went with her sometimes. Now she’s there in the graveyard beside him. I rode my bike out to the cemetery earlier today to …
A Day to Remember Those Who Gave Their All
“It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.” (Norman Schwarzkopf) Do you know why we have a long Memorial Day weekend? Some people think of it as a day to decorate the graves of their loved ones who have died. And that does happen …
Color the World
A few years ago when my writing wasn’t going so well, I was exploring new options. One of those was writing devotionals inspired by things out here on the farm. I thought if I could come up with one devotional per week, I could turn it into a Hiker’s Devotional. Then my fiction writing began to get rolling again and …
A Stranger in Hollyhill
May 20, 1964 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Main Street, Hollyhill, Kentucky. A stranger checked into the Hollyhill hotel last week. So what’s so strange about that? The only person to check into that hotel in my lifetime is Bill Jackson who moved into one of the rooms ten years ago after his mother died. Bill’s neck is too long …
New Books and Reviews
In about a month I’ll be celebrating a new book out for readers. Small Town Girl is scheduled for release on July 1, but usually I get to enjoy that new book smell when I open up a box the UPS man brings to my door a few days before July. It’s always exciting to actually hold that new book …
Sweeping the Shaker Way
Brooms make me think of Shakers. That’s what I put on my Shaker Wednesday post on my Facebook page this week, but there’s only so much you can put on a Facebook post. And a person can write a lot about Shaker brooms. If you visit the Shaker village of Pleasant Hill here in Mercer County, Kentucky, you can see …
Locust Bloom Winter
May 13, 1964 Jocie Brooke here reporting for the Banner. It’s been a cool day here in Hollyhill. Way too cool. Last Friday it was 80 degrees and so hot that when I got home from school, I broke out my pedal pushers and wore a sleeveless shirt to the Banner office. Wes wanted me to help him clean up …
Smiles Make a Difference
What Sunshine is to Flowers, Smiles are to Humanity. ~Joseph Addison Today was Mother’s Day. A beautiful time to remember Moms everywhere. It was a sad day for some who were missing a mom gone on before them. I still have my mother, but she’s not the mother I’ve known all my life. Dementia has stolen her memories and joy …
The Mysteries of Spring
I had fun with my last mystery picture that wasn’t much of a mystery for some of you. So how about this one? Got a guess before you read on? While you’re thinking about it, let’s talk about Spring. Here in Kentucky it was so cool in March that spring tarried and dragged its feet, but then April came along …
Cat Gets a Name
May 6, 1964 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky. Things have been really hopping around here since Cat showed up. I’m beginning to believe he is from Jupiter the way Wes says. Zella says she doesn’t care where he’s from as long as he stays away from her and for heaven’s sake, we’re a newspaper. We deal in words …