The first week of May is nearly gone, a wet month, a stormy month for some. Weather is changeable and so are world conditions, so it’s good to know that some things don’t change. May’s birthstone is still the beautiful, glowing emerald and May’s flower is still lily-of-the-valley. So, even in uncertainty, there are […]
May 4, 2021
Speaking the Same Language
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Last night’s severe weather did a lot of damage to Arkansas’ River Valley. Trees are down, buildings damaged, schools closed. Fortunately, this area got thunder, lightning, and rain, but so far as I know, no damage. There’s something about a calamity that brings people together. Suddenly, everyone speaks the same language. Friends, neighbors, strangers are […]
May 3, 2021
The Tornado That Destroyed a Town, Part 2
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This is the second and final installment of my May 5, 1985 Daily Press article about the tornado which destroyed Peggs, Oklahoma on May 2, 1920. In 1920, Walter Neel lived with his parents, brothers and sisters on the Gid Morgan farm, two and a fourth miles southeast of Peggs. The storm went a […]
May 2, 2021
The Tornado That Destroyed a Town
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Each year I re-print the story of the Peggs tornado that I wrote for The Tahlequah Daily Press in 1985. This story is important because it is a part of our history. It is a sad story, but it is also full of human compassion and courage. We should not forget the many whose […]
May 1, 2021
Have You Seen the May Bee?
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This is the day the little May Bee flies forth and children (and some adults) will use him in their speech all day long. I’ve always pictured the May Bee as a small striped fellow, rather like a bumblebee who wears a happy grin and has transluscent wings the color of spring flowers. But then, […]
Apr 30, 2021
Oils and Thinking
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It had been a long time since I’d painted in oils. Oh, I’d gotten canvas boards, paints, brushes, all the paraphernalia, but then, I just left them tucked away. The thing of it was, I was intimidated. Pencil sketches, watercolors, Prismacolor–all those media were familiar to me, as oil once was, so why did I […]
