by Sarah Loudin Thomas | May 3, 2018 | Appalachian, Family, History, Memories, superstition
I’ve attended several funerals lately and it got me thinking about how much a part of growing up in Appalachia funerals have always been. As a child I often went with my parents to funerals. Shoot, everyone went. It’s just what you did. The two things I...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Apr 30, 2018 | Friends, Memories, Writing
There are stories all around us. All you have to do is listen. A dear friend’s mother offers a wealth of inspiration for my Appalachian stories. Anne grew up on a tobacco farm in Kentucky, but spent considerable time with grandparents in town. While she did help...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Apr 26, 2018 | Appalachian, Church, History, Memories
Tomorrow is my wedding anniversary–twenty-two years! So what does that have to do with outhouses? Well, if you’ve been following my blog for a while, you know that the church where we married was lacking indoor plumbing. It still is twenty-two years later....
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Mar 8, 2018 | Appalachian, Memories, Nature, Poetry
No, not the states below the Mason Dixon Line. I’m talking about the cooperative store started by farmers in Virginia. When I was a kid, we’d go to Southern States to buy things like cattle feed, bulk dog food, bag balm, seeds, medicine for cattle, and...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Feb 22, 2018 | Appalachian, Memories, Nature, Waiting
Every year a few hardy daffodils jump the gun and bloom in February. Every year we act surprised. Somehow it seems too soon, but I’ve looked back at notes from five years ago and this is nothing new. Every February the daffodils unfurl seemingly fragile yellow petals....
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Feb 5, 2018 | Family, Memories, Poetry
We all have special people in our lives. Folks who have an impact on us–whether fleeting or long term. I’ve been thinking lately about how many of those people in my life are gone now–Grandma Burla, Aunt Bess, Dusan & Marsha, Aunt Dorothy &...
