The Canning Jar Quest

The Canning Jar Quest

Forty-five years ago, my mother began collecting a series of antique canning jars. I can’t remember why this happened, but my best guess is that she came across one that was unique, she liked it, and she bought it.

This purchase would start a chain reaction and a multi-year search for my family.

Specifically, she sought green Atlas jars with glass lids. These were also known as “Lightning Jars.” Allegedly, the name came from how much faster they were to open than ...

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Family, Food, Home, Home Cooking, Life

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Diners, Drive-Ins and Memories

Diners, Drive-Ins and Memories

Chain restaurants are rapidly replacing what I believe has been one of the best facets of small town America: the local diner or restaurant.

Unexpectedly and unannounced, the drive-in in our small town closed last week. In fairness, it was a Sonic, which technically is a chain restaurant, but it wasn’t a corporate location, it was locally owned.

Whenever we lose an eatery that was owned by someone who lives in our town, we lose a little bit of who we are.

After ...

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Family, Food, Home

Match Game Is Unmatched

Match Game Is Unmatched

Once upon a time, daytime television was filled with game shows, people winning prizes, and funny celebrities. I miss those days, and one game show in particular. Match Game.

During the midday hours of the summer breaks in the mid-1970s, just about the only thing on TV that a kid wanted to watch were game shows.

We stayed with my grandmother during those summer days. She watched game shows too, but she mainly watched soap operas, or as she called them, her ...

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Television

Just My Type

Just My Type

For those who know me, it’s no secret that I enjoy perusing the classifieds for yard or estate sales. But, a recent online visit to the local Craigslist site led to the purchase of a manual typewriter. A 1958 Remington Quiet-Riter, to be exact.

This column was written on it.

Some might consider an almost-60-year-old typewriter a nonsensical purchase, considering that desktops, laptops and iPads (the latter typically being my chosen device for writing) are much easier to navigate and correct mistakes.

All ...

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Life, School

Christmas Present

Christmas Present

Rising quietly from the bed as not to wake her, I dress in the dark and make my way to the door. I open it and walk into the hallway. On the bedroom wall, I watch the dim light shining in from the living room narrow and then disappear as I lightly close the door.

As I make the short walk from our bedroom to the living room, the light brightens. It’s 3 o’clock on Christmas morning and the lights on ...

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Faith, Family, Holidays

Kids and Christmas

Kids and Christmas

Santa came to our house on Christmas Eve, before we went to bed. Some of my friends had to go to bed before Santa would come. Their gifts would be under the tree when they woke up.

Not me. I didn’t have to wait. My grandmother would take us for a Christmas Eve ride in the station wagon to look for Rudolph’s glowing nose in the sky.

All of the local radio stations would give Santa sighting reports. The North American Aerospace ...

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Family, Holidays, Home

Bells and Whistles

Bells and Whistles

A few days ago, the oldest child in our family announced that he was looking for a truck. His current vehicle, which was born during the first George W. Bush administration, was ready for retirement.

Our family is one that drives vehicles until the proverbial wheels fall off.

He looked at a number of different trucks, and surprisingly, even though I thought he was a devout Ford man, he even considered a Dodge. Ultimately, he stuck with a Ford.

He sent us a ...

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Cars

Picturing Grace

Picturing Grace

When I was a child, there was a painting that hung on my grandmother’s kitchen wall. It portrayed a man who was praying over a meal of bread and what appeared to be a bowl of soup. Near the man was a book, which I always assumed was a Bible, and a pair of spectacles.

From my earliest recollections until my dad’s mother passed, I remember looking at this painting while we ate in her home and wondering many things. Who ...

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art, Faith, Family, Home, Life

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The Fall Guy

The Fall Guy

Hands down, fall is my favorite time of year. I just wish that fall lasted a little longer in Texas.

Had I been born and raised in a different climate, this might not be the case. But, growing up in the south, the fall won my appreciation at a young age.

For those who are reading this and are sitting in a geographical location that is visited by four equal seasons every year, pat yourself on the back and say, “I am ...

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Family, Holidays, Home, Life

Thanksgiving Memories

Thanksgiving Memories

Our major holidays are centered around faith. Easter, Hanukkah, and Christmas focus on God. So does Thanksgiving, but it focuses on appreciating what the other holidays represent.

My earliest memories of Thanksgiving are of my sister and me riding in the back seat of my mom’s 1960 model Buick and traveling from one grandparent’s house to the other. I was very fortunate as a child. Virtually all members of both sides of my family lived in the same town.

Ashdown, Arkansas, was ...

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Faith, Family, Food, Holidays

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