Home Country: The Old Outhouse

I can ‘memorate ‘thout too much trouble about the time this little girl come to visit on the ranch. Oh, Alphonse Wilson here, don’t you see… Yessir, she was just a tad, mebbe three years old. Couldn’t say for sure. Didn’t check her teeth.

Heads Up to the Farmer’s Wave

He tucked his billfold in the back pocket of his striped overalls and reached for a clean cap from the hook behind the door. “I need to run to town for a part for the planter.” Dad spoke to Mom..I gazed up at him with my best puppy-eyed-please-takeme- with-you-look. His hazel eyes twinkled.

Little Pasture on the Prairie

Before I submitted my first column, before I ever even thought of publishing a book, back when the only writing I’d done was in private journals and song lyrics, I adopted two orphan lambs and named them Pearl and Theo.

Home Country: Quiet time before daylight

There’s something so satisfying about getting out of bed when the world is still dark and quiet and resting. Making the coffee gives us time to scratch and think. Well, scratch, anyway. Most of that thinking will start after about the third cup of coffee.But it’s a quiet time. A private time.

Know when to run

My lungs burned like fire and my heart pounded wildly. Behind me, footsteps bit into the gravel, but I pushed on. He was getting closer! At last, I reached the gate, slipped through and jerked it shut behind me. Chest heaving, I whirled to face my pursuer. One beady eye stared up at me for a second.

Little Pasture on the Prairie

A musician I used to tour with once introduced me by saying, “She writes quiet songs in a loud time. I think we need more quiet songs.” I remember being surprised – it was like catching sight of myself in a mirror I thought was a window, and I didn’t recognize myself at first.

Colon cancer screening is important

Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men and women. The lifetime risk of developing colon cancer is 1 in 24 for men and 1 in 26 for women.

Home Country

All land developers really have to do to name all the new streets in a sagebrush subdivision is to leave the naming up to the local kids. The names may be goofy, but seldom boring.Such was the case with Fonster Fench.

Stray Thoughts: Dream Planning

Martin Luther King said, “I have a dream!”Spike Lee said, “I have a plan.”Can you see what a dramatic difference there is between the two statements?Many students leave high school with the idea that they want to become this or that without having developed a plan to do so.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR . . . Think! Why die?

Dear Editor, Drunk driving on our roadways is killing more and more people each year. Our highways are almost lined with the haunting “Think! Why Die?” Signs. Each one marks the spot of a fatal vehicle accident caused by drunk or distracted driving.