Columnist John Moore cuts and bales hay on the homestead he shares with his wife. A remnant of the hard work he was taught growing up. Courtesy John Moore Hard work has a way of shaping a person that no shortcut or modern convenience can replicate. In an era when many...
When I was growing up in Ashdown, Arkansas, I thought every adult was old. I really couldn’t tell how old someone was, I just knew that they looked old to me, so they were. Maybe that’s why the young man gave me the discount. About a dozen years ago, I went in early...
As I start this article, I’m on a plane back to the U.S. from being in the mountains of Chiapas, Mexico. I was part of a team of 14 people who helped build a building to serve a small community, present childrens programs and visit an orphanage. It’s the orphanage I’m...
Growing up in New York, I’ll never forget the blackout that hit the city in 1977. I remember my mother being in the shower when the lights went out, and blaming my brother and I for playing a prank on her with the lights. But it was far from a prank, the city lost...
My grandfather was a blacksmith. To supply his shop with the metal, wood, and other materials he needed to operate, he attended auctions. Auctions that sold all types of items. Since his shop was located in Ashdown, Arkansas, that gave him close proximity to the...
My mom and her mother saved 7 1/2 books to get us that swing set. Just three years before in 1966, my parents had saved to buy their first house. Money was tight, so, if my sister and I were going to have that new addition to the backyard, Green Stamps would be the...
There are events that are so significant that virtually everyone can tell you where they were when they happened. The loss of Kennedy, the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, the moon landing, and of course 911. But the death of Elvis came to mind recently when someone mentioned...
We live in a world that gives very little good news. If you turn on the television, open a newspaper or look at an internet feed, you will find that most of the news is depressing, negative and hostile. In fact, our world suffers from ‘compassion fatigue’....
Here we are again…it seems like just a few months ago we were celebrating year-end holidays, and now we’re just days away from Christmas Day. How time flies! Christmas may hold different meanings for many people. For some, they remember family and friends that are no...
