I’m Back
Yes, as a matter of fact, I am still above ground and still as grumpy as ever! But the mule still kicks, the sun still shines, and I’ve noted there’s still a meadowlark on the fence post! For the past 16 months I’ve been out of pocket (give a country boy a bionic knee and [...]
A smile
This morning I found a small box in the back of the storeroom. On the back of a piece of wallpaper I found this note from my great Aunt Zilpha. The advice was good then and still good today:Some people are too tired to give a smile. Give them one of yours, as no one [...]
Sentiment
Sentiment can be saving old things. Yet, as I see it and write it, the deepest and most worthy sentiment expresses itself in saving a thought. If this makes any sense at all, the best sentiment is saving a sentiment. It is forever cherishing some little guideline given us, as children, by someone older who [...]
Mother’s kitchen range
Note: This photo was taken by Oris George of his wood-burning heating stove. Inside, behind the glass, the fire flashed and light flares through the glass and travels out through the room. While doing dishes this morning, I listened to the snap and crackle of cedar wood burning in the wood-burning heating stove. My memory [...]
A corncob fortune
As the years march along, I vividly recall the fun, and not-so-fun, times, my friend, Henry, and I spent from the third grade through the ninth grade. I’m working on a story that took place during the fall of 1941. We were eight years old. Neither one of us had any money. We put our [...]
For Christmas
For Christmas this year, give the gift of warm nostalgia to friends and loved ones! Along the Back Roads of Yesterday offers escape from the chaotic world in which we live. The reader is whisked back to a time when hard work, creative imagination, and good times spent lingering with family and friends made life [...]
Rhonda Likes Oris’ Book
I just finished reading Along the Backroads of Yesterday, which I bought from you at my Cousin Carol’s place yesterday morning, and I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed it … Thank you so much for an absolutely delightful read! … I found every word of Danielle Simone’s Forward (particularly her [...]
We’re no exception
Busy researching this morning I ran across this by Robert Fritz This is a funny age we live in. On the one hand, more and more of us are exercising, eating healthy diets, balancing our work lives with our personal lives, getting regular checkups, and getting enough rest and relaxation. But, at the same time, [...]
An observation
Most of us are combinations of emotion. Luckily, above many a hot collar there rests a cool head, waiting for everything below to simmer down and embrace reason.
Candied apples
This afternoon I’m remembering my little brother, his candied apple and a Halloween 67 years ago.



