The photo was taken quickly with little thought of its future impact. It was just one of the 36-count roll of Kodak color film that she’d bought for her vacation.

My sister was on a Colorado trip. She booked a trip on a vintage train that traveled on vintage tracks. As the conductor made a final walk of inspection, my sister leaned out a window and snapped the shot.

It was early morning. The mist of the mountain blended into the mist ...

Southerner’s are big on sopping. We like to sop our biscuits in lots of things.

There isn’t much that’s better than sopping a cathead biscuit in gravy. Especially if your mom made both.

My mother worked culinary magic in that tiny kitchen on Beech Street in Ashdown, Arkansas. She made biscuits and gravy most meals.

We learned to sop at a young age. Sopping made sure we didn’t leave a drop of country goodness on our plates.

Gravy is good, but it wasn’t the ...

About 40 years ago, my dad gave me a radio. Not just any radio. It was what’s called a farm radio.

According to Texas Co-op Power Magazine, in 1936, just three out of 100 farms had electricity. By the mid-1940’s, it was three out of 10. That still left most farm families without power.

The Philco radio my dad gave me was made around 1946 and it ran off a dry cell battery.

A dry cell battery radio was how those with no ...

If you’re a Baptist from the South, you’re hoping that the Pearly Gates pop quiz isn’t, “What’s the third verse to any song in the hymnal?”

You won’t know the answer.

If you’re laughing right now, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

In Southern churches that sing the old hymns, skipping the third verse is common.

“OK, let’s all stand. We’ll sing the first, second, and last stanzas,” said the church’s song leader.

In the little church in Ashdown, Arkansas, in which I grew ...

My grandfather called it a, “Po Boy Lunch.”

That meant we were having leftovers in whatever creative way my grandmother came up with.

Recently, I took two biscuits from breakfast and loaded them with smoked brisket, and from the garden, purple onions and jalapeños.

A little Heinz 57 topped them. Also from the garden, Roma tomatoes with sea salt.

It got me to thinking about why Southern folks like simple foods.

It’s because it’s good.

A pot of pinto beans, some sliced onion, and cornbread was ...

I don’t know if Red Goose was a real bird, but I used to love wearing her shoes. I especially loved getting them. Along with one of her golden eggs.

In Ashdown, Arkansas, Red Goose Shoes were sold at Blue Ribbon Shoe Store. It was one of thousands of shoe stores that dotted the American landscape of the mid-20th Century.

Unfortunately, shoe stores have pretty much gone the way of the buggy whip salesman.

I miss the experience of the shoe store.

Today, people ...

When you grow up with one car and no phone, trips to water parks usually aren’t on the summer agenda.

Two reasons. Budgets were tight, and there were no water parks in Ashdown, Arkansas.

Unless you count one of the numerous livestock ponds in the area. And those weren’t typically recommended for snorkeling.

But that didn’t mean our moms didn’t see to it that we had a day or two for aquatic recreation. On the contrary. Fun in the sun was as close ...

People use different ways to learn to read. Some folks use the vowels and consonants method. Others memorize how the words look.

I used both, but I had a secret weapon many didn’t know about.

Comic books.

While most kids were having, “Fun with Dick and Jane,” I was having a blast with Spider-Man and The Fantastic Four.

It started when my dad came home one day with a stack of comic books he’d picked up for a quarter at a garage sale.

At the ...

Things were better in the old days back in Ashdown, Arkansas.

Because of that, I’m building a room in our house with almost all vintage items.

I’m calling it, “The Retro Room.”

I never thought I’d hear anyone else besides my dad and grandfather say that. But now I’m saying it.

Things were made better in the old days.

Cars used to be better. Furniture used to be better. Appliances used to be better.

Show me one thing today that’s made with better quality and durability.

I’ll ...

America really is The Land of Opportunity. Even if there’s only one opportunity, and that opportunity is cutting the grass.

Ashdown, Arkansas, was a pretty typical small American town in the 1960s and 1970s.

Kids weren’t just handed things. If we wanted something, we were told to work for it.

At my house that was the case. It was also the case at the homes of all of my friends.

Want a new stereo? Go make some money. Want a new bicycle? Get a ...