An Arkies Musings

My An Arkie's Faith column from the March 30, 2022, issue of The Polk County Pulse. The old woman sat quietly in her kitchen as she ate her breakfast. Thoughts and memories from ninety years of life pressed in on her as she looked around the room. There were so many memories in this house. The pretty young French girl who had seen firsthand the horrors of war gave way to a strong resilient woman. But now her body was failing her, and she would no longer be able to stay alone in the house that she loved. How would she be able to let it go? La tartine, a quarter baguette sliced horizontally and toasted, was on the small table in front of her. She spread butter on the tartine absent-mindedly and reached for the sour orange marmalade. She would spread marmalade on one piece of tartine, but she would save the other piece to "dunk" into her café au lait. This was her breakfast almost every morning.  As she sat there, deep in thought, her eyes rested on the miniature painting ha...

My Grandpa Lawry loved to tell stories, sing, and recite poetry. Some of my fondest memories of my childhood were spending time with my Grandpa and listening to him. One of my favorite poems that he would recite is "So Did I." Recently I found a digital copy on the internet of the book, Uncle Charlie's Poems, written by Charles Noel Douglas that includes the poem. Reading "So Did I," and reminiscing about my Grandpa made me miss him. SO DID I - Charles Noel Douglas That long, lank dude as sparks our Sue was to the house last night, An' talk of having fun, well, say, I thought I'd die outright. Laugh, well, I'm a-laughing still, I guess I'll never quit; I've only got to think, an' then I durned nigh have a fit. He came to supper, an' we had, o' course, a dandy spread. Sue trotted out her chocolate cake, an' Mom her fancy bread. An’ that long dude he stuffed hisself with cake, preserves an' pie, An' then drank sixteen cu...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the March 23, 2022, issue of The Polk County Pulse. The baby blue sky and the warmth of the sun pushing away the cool of the morning lifted my spirits. The cold, damp dismal weather of the previous day was a thing of the past as I looked forward to the promise of spring. "Today will be awesome," I thought as I prepared for our outing to the Jonquil Festival in Old Washington.  As we drove south out of the Ouachita's into the flat land of Southern Arkansas, the changes were noticeable. The pastures and roadsides were green, and many homes along the road had patches of bright yellow daffodils. Spring was already making its mark, with the white blossoms of wild plum and serviceberry trees dotting the landscape. The soft glow of green tinged trees promised the glory of rebirth as their buds opened and tiny new leaves unfurled. When we reached Old Washington, traffic came to a standstill. Thousands of people had converged on the small town. ...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the March 16, 2022, issue of The Polk County Pulse. The cold wind seeped through my clothes and sent shivers through me. The beautiful weather of the day before had turned into a windy reminder that winter wasn't quite finished. As I worked installing a windshield in a large truck, my fingers were so cold that I had difficulty hanging on to things. The truck was far too big to go inside my shop, so I did the job outside. Once I finished, I was happy that my next windshield installation would be inside.  As I was working in the relative warmth of my shop, I heard a slight pinging on my metal roof. Before long, the sparse pinging turned into a deafening roar. I walked outside to see driving sleet beating down on everything. Sleet powdered the ground and was beginning to pile up. The sleet came as if the weather was in a tentative mood, unable to decide whether to give us freezing rain or snow. Stuck in a moment of indecisiveness, halfway between ra...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the March 9, 2022, issue of The Polk County Pulse. Last week's sunshine and warm temperatures signaled that spring would be arriving soon. Daffodils are blooming, and their bright yellow faces, reaching towards the sun, make me smile. From the first thoughts of spring, daffodil blossoms prophesy that winter will soon be over and better days are coming. While daffodils are some of the earliest flowers to bloom, Tulips are not far behind. This weekend I saw my first tulip, a deep scarlet red, announcing that many more tulips would be arriving soon. One of my favorite springtime activities is to visit Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs during the peak tulip viewing times. Garvan Woodland Gardens are beautiful any time of the year, but I think that the tulip season is quite possibly the best. Walkways lined with the spectacular sight of over 150,000 breathtaking tulips in a wide variety of colors cover the gardens.  When the Turks discovered tuli...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the March 2, 2022, issue of The Polk County Pulse. It was a crisp 34 degrees as I walked out of our hotel. I carefully made my way down the dark path to the parking lot. I looked up to see the inky black sky with thousands of stars embedded into the canopy like brilliant diamonds. I stopped and soaked in the eery silence before climbing into my car and starting the engine. Today was my first morning in the Big Bend area of Texas, and I wanted to find an excellent place to watch the sunrise. I pulled out onto Highway 170 and headed northwest out of Lajitas. The road spread out in front of me like a pitch-black river, following along the banks of the Rio Grande. My headlights fought to penetrate the overwhelming darkness. Several miles down the road, I found a place to pull off the highway. A sign that read West Contrabando Trailhead pointed to a dirt road that turned off to my right. At the trailhead was an empty parking lot. I pull in and turn off th...