Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne Do you remember those “You might be a redneck” jokes made popular by Jeff Foxworthy? He had a bunch of them. Even had books of them. Well, lately, I’ve been thinking about things that …
The Blessing of Work
The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. (Genesis 2:15 (ESV) Labor Day weekend is often called the official end of summer. In past years it signaled the start of school. It’s not that way anymore in our state since the schools are air-conditioned now and the legislature mandated …
Sunflowers of Joy
“Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows. It’s what sunflowers do.” ~Helen Keller Sunflowers make me smile. I once titled one of my Heart of Hollyhill books, Sunflowers of Joy. That title was eventually changed to Summer of Joy, but my first idea for a title showed how I think of sunflowers as something that can …
Sunday – a Day for Families
“Sunday! A family day with a touch of weekend thrown in for good measure.” ― Anthony T. Hincks Don’t you just love Sundays – that day of the week when we pause for a moment from our work routines? Well, those of us who don’t have those jobs that have to be done on Sundays too like nurses and policemen …
Thistles, Butterflies & Memories of Dad
“Die when I may, I want it said by those who knew me best that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow.”(Abraham Lincoln) It’s thistle season in Kentucky. They grow well here, rain or drought. Actually they grow a little thicker when there’s a dry spell. That’s because when the rains …
Wildflower Hunting in the Hayfield
“What a lonely place it would be to have a world without a wildflower!” ―Roland R Kemler If you have been hanging around here long or follow me on my Facebook page, you already know that I like spotting wildflowers on my walks here on the farm with my dog, Frankie. While I like to stop and get closer looks …
“Where Do You Get Your Ideas?”
Ideas come from ordinary, everyday life. And from imagination. And from feelings. And from memories. Memories of dust in my sneakers and humming whitewalls down a hill called Monkey. ~Jerry Spinelli “Where do you get your ideas?” I’m guessing that is a question many writers have tried to answer, including Jerry Spinelli in the quote above. Imagination can be a …
Let’s Talk Books
“A house without books is like a room without windows.” ― Horace Mann On my Home page here on my website is a line that says my favorite room is a room with windows. Maybe that’s because I too think of stories as windows into other worlds whether I’m the one writing that story or the one reading stories others …
Warning – Painter at Work
When things become peculiar, frustrating and strange, I think it’s a good time to start painting. ~James Rosenquist I know. I know. He’s talking about a different kind of painting. But that wasn’t the kind of painting I was doing. I’m painting my bathroom. Not exactly the most artistic thing. Truth is, about the only artistic painting I ever did …
An Uncommon Idea
A library is the delivery room for the birth of ideas, a place where history comes to life. ~Norman Cousins I’ve told you before how much I owe to libraries in helping to form me into a writer of books. Without my regular trips to the library when I was a kid, I doubt I would have found as much …









