Appalachian Blessings

I'm turning 45 today. I've opted to brag about my age rather than quibble about it. I've known too many ladies who loved to lay claim to being the oldest person still living in our little community to blush at something as arbitrary as age. I'm celebrating with some...

Thanksgiving is over. The cornbread dressing is gone and the last of the turkey has lost it's appeal. But I still have a great deal to be thankful for. I'm feeling fine! After a stroke in April I have a new appreciation for good health. I have an incredible support...

We're headed for those West Virginia hills today to enjoy Thanksgiving with my family. Not wanting to stick my poor brother with preparing the meal, we're taking advantage of the prepared Thanksgiving dinners offered by my friend Chef Dale Hawkins at Fish Hawk Acres....

Still no rain. People sometimes joke about the forests of Western NC being rain forests. Not this year. We haven't had enough rain to count since August. And the forecast isn't promising. I've certainly prayed about the weather before. Prayed that it would or would...

When I wrote about a drought in Miracle in a Dry Season, I'd experienced some minor droughts and read about some serious ones. This year is the first time I've actually felt fearful because of a drought. We had some rain in August. But in September and October there...

When it feels like the world all around you is on fire, it's hard to focus on anything else. As of Sunday evening, a wildfire near Lake Lure, one county over from where we live, is approaching 3,000 acres. Smoke hangs heavy in the air. The 10-day forecast offers no...

Tomorrow is Veterans' Day so I thought I'd take a look back at some of the veterans who fought in the days when my home state was just being born. It was during the Civil War that West Virginia seceded from the Union and became it's own state. I had family wearing...

If you're a regular reader, you know I only offer book reviews once in a while. Basically, only when I read a book that I can't stand NOT to tell you about. Long Way Gone by Charles Martin is such a book. First of all, I pretty much love everything Charles Martin...