An Arkies Musings

My An Arkie's Faith column from the April 26, 2017, issue of The Mena Star. I love driving on the back roads in western Arkansas. I love the scenery. I love the adventure. I love to explore new roads. When I see a road, I always wonder where it goes. Last weekend my wife and I took a long drive on back country roads. It was a beautiful day, and the scenery was gorgeous. The wildflowers were in bloom. Fire Pink, Dwarf Crested Iris, Phlox, Spiderwort, Skullcap, Daisies, and Violets adorned the hillsides.  We traveled through Posey Hollow to Brushy Knob, where we turned onto Forest Service Road 216. The road meandered up the side of the mountain providing magnificent views. The exposed rocks and deep ruts made the road difficult to negotiate as it made its way over the mountains. While we were enthralled with the commanding views, we weren’t sure where the road was taking us. We considered turning around and going back the way we came, but the road was narrow and turning ...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the April 19, 2017, issue of The Mena Star. Jim, a friend of mine, used to work as a used car manager at one of the first Lexus dealerships in the United States. One of the responsibilities of a used car manager is to appraise cars. When a customer is considering trading in their car, someone has to look at the car and complete an evaluation in a matter of minutes. It is even a bigger challenge when dealing with luxury cars. Most of the trade-ins at the Lexus dealership were big European cars such as Mercedes Benz, BMWs, and Jaguars. On these expensive cars, making a mistake on the appraisal could be costly. People who buy high-end luxury cars do not go to a local body shop for repairs; even when there is only a minor door ding. They go to a luxury car specialty shop that repairs cars at a level that it is virtually undetectable to the untrained eye. Having a body repair done on a luxury car causes the car’s value to plummet much more than...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the April 12, 2017, issue of The Mena Star. This year, April 1st passed by without much notice on my part. There was an announcement that a local man was running for governor, but other than that no one I knew tried to play any April Fools pranks. I have never been much of a prankster, but last year I did fool a lot of people. On April 1, 2016, I posted the following on my blog, An Arkie’s Musings, under the title Brilliance in Blogging Award. “I was shocked and surprised to receive the Spring 2016 Brilliance in Blogging Award. Over 150,000 blogs were nominated this year, so it is a huge achievement that An Arkie's Musings won this prestigious award. The award celebrates great writing, great photography and great commitment to storytelling. I am thrilled to win the award. I'm still in shock that my blog has been recognized for its brilliance. It feels like a dream come true. Who knew that a little blog from Mena, Arkansas was being ...

Back in January my wife and I attended a concert at South on Main in Little Rock, Arkansas. Our favorite band, Smokey and the Mirror , was opening for Dylan LeBlanc . South on Main is a restaurant and performance venue featuring the best of Southern cuisine and culture. The food was amazing and the music venue is great. We enjoyed the venue so much that I checked out the concert schedule to see who would be appearing at upcoming concerts. Sierra Hull was scheduled to appear on April 6th. I listened to her music on Spotify and decided that we would enjoy hearing her in concert. When the tickets went on sale I was able to purchase tickets at the table directly in front of the stage. We enjoyed the concert more than we could have ever imagined. Sierra and bassist Ethan Jodziewicz are simply the best at their instruments. Even though they both are virtuoso's on their instruments, the mandolin and the bass, the live show takes on a minimalist approach. Being in the audience fe...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the April 5, 2017, issue of The Mena Star. While The Wall That Heals was in town at the high school stadium, my wife and I stopped by to see the exhibit. The traveling memorial wall is a half-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Since 1996, the mobile wall has visited more than 400 communities throughout the United States. According to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, the sponsors of The Wall That Heals, “bringing The Wall to communities across the country spreads its healing legacy to millions.” This year The Wall will be displayed in over forty communities. I feel very fortunate that I was able to visit the exhibit and help honor the over 58,000 Americans who gave their lives for their country in Vietnam. As my wife and I viewed the mobile Education Center that is part of the exhibit we were carried back to our childhoods. The exhibits told the story of the Vietnam War, The Wall, and the American experi...

I am brand new to self-publishing, having just published my first book . I have learned a lot in the last month; at least I hope that I have learned from my mistakes. One of the first things that I discovered was how hard it is to self-edit. By the time that I have written and re-written a story, I am so familiar with it that it is hard to see typos and poorly written elements. My mind sees the page as it should be instead of how it actually is. The second thing that I discovered is how uncomfortable I am with self-promotion. There is a line from the movie Field of Dreams that says, "if you build it, he will come." In popular culture, the line is more often misquoted as "if you build it, they will come." I must admit that I had that mindset when I published my book. I now have a book, surely people will come and purchase it. The reality that every author, musician, artist or other creative person faces is that if you don't promote yourself, nobody will...