Back in 2008, blogging was the new thing on the block. Well, maybe not all that new to many, but totally new to me. Blogs, a term that came from the original weblog that a blogger back in 1990s posted as “we blog.” And boy, did “we” ever as individuals started keeping online journals and companies decided blogging was a …
Writing the Stories I Want to Write
“Help me to continue writing through those black moments of discouragement when I feel that nothing I write is good or worthwhile or will ever be read by anyone.” (an excerpt from A Writer’s Prayer by H. Joseph Chadwick) From the time I got hold of my first notebook and pen, I wanted to be a writer. All those lines …
Rocks, Creeks and Books
July 13, 1966 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky. Can you believe that there’s only about a month before school starts again? That’s just not right. Summer should last twice as long as other seasons. Each day needs to matter. Dad says I’m the one who has to make my days matter. I can’t be moping around wishing for …
Getting to The End for Bailey’s Bug
July 5, 1966 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky. Wow, did you see fireworks on the 4th? Leigh talked Dad into taking us to Lexington to the drive-in to watch the fireworks. We got to see the movie too. Sound of Music. It was wonderful. I loved it even more than the fireworks which were really neat and …
Summer Time and the Water’s Fine
June 15, 1966 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky. Well, actually I’m reporting from the swimming hole out in the county. A lake swimming hole. A beautiful place to swim and now that school is officially out – Yay!! – I can go swimming there with a couple of girls from church. Their grandparents own a house alongside the …
A Cat Like Lucinda
June 8, 1966 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky. Do you like cats? I like dogs better. But you know that if you’ve read those books about Hollyhill. I wanted a dog so much I said a dog prayer and the Lord let me find a dog over in the woods and bring it home. I named him Zebedee, …
Memorial Day in Hollyhill & More of Bailey’s Bug
May 30, 1966 Jocie Brooke reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky. This picture wasn’t taken in Hollyhill, but you knew that. It’s a picture Dad showed me of a cemetery in France to help me think about what Memorial Day really means. It’s not just picnics and the local swimming pool opening for the summer and school being out. Memorial Day is …
Tests are the Price You Pay to Get out of School
May 23, 1966 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky. School is almost out! Yay!! I really do like school, but I’m always really, really glad when summer comes calling. We have about one more week. Five and one-half day to be exact. We have tests and more tests. You have to take tests or summer can’t come. But nothing …
A Blind Man Healed with Mud
May 17, 1966 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky, the town where not much ever happens. Sigh. Dad says I should be glad not much happens in our hometown. Wes says I need to pay attention and see that things are happening all around me. And Zella says I need to quit making so much happen and stay out …
Good Mothers Don’t Grow on Trees
May 10, 1965 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky on the day after Mother’s Day. Everybody always makes such a big deal out of Mother’s Day. I guess that’s good. Most mothers need a day when they are a big deal. But I don’t much like Mother’s Day. You see, not everybody has a good mother. I didn’t. …