by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Dec 23, 2013 | Appalachian, Church, Family, Friends, Miracles
I LOVE my family. I feel so firmly rooted in the family that surrounded me as I grew up in WV. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins. Oh my, the cousins I have. I think there are some I have yet to meet. And others who are practically sisters. But wait. Some of my...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Dec 18, 2013 | Appalachian, Miracles, Poetry
It’s one week ’til we celebrate the birth of our savior. Here’s a musical interlude from Mark O’Connor’s album, Appalachian Christmas. O’Connor on violin, Yo-Yo Ma on cello, and Allison Krauss singing. A foretaste of heaven,...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Dec 11, 2013 | Appalachian, Family
I try to use the language I grew up with when I write my books. Much of it is distinctive to the mountains I love. Recently I found this poster that includes several of my favorites, which got me to thinking about word origins. I will point out that the poster lists...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Dec 4, 2013 | Appalachian, Family, Food, Miracles, Uncategorized
We had so many Christmas traditions when I was a kid. And–this probably won’t come as a shock–quite a few had to do with food. Popcorn Balls – Mom would make popper after popper of corn and load it into a huge bowl. (It might not have been that...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Nov 27, 2013 | Appalachian, Family, Food, Nature
It’s holiday time in West Virginia. Oh, sure, there’s Thanksgiving tomorrow, but the REAL festivities began on Monday. The first day of deer season. Many schools are out all week because, well, no one would come if they were open. Teachers, students,...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Nov 20, 2013 | Appalachian, Family, Nature, Reading, Thistle
Monday I took Thistle for her evening hike. I think there was a low pressure system moving in because both of us were feeling spry. As we circled around to the trail back down to the car I had an urge to cut loose and just run down that hill. So I did. And as I ran,...
