The Tornado That Destroyed a Town, Part 2

The Tornado That Destroyed a Town, Part 2

  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 […]

The Tornado That Destroyed a Town

The Tornado That Destroyed a Town

  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 […]

Have You Seen the May Bee?

Have You Seen the May Bee?

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, […]

Oils and Thinking

Oils and Thinking

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 […]

Hummers in the Maple Tree

Hummers in the Maple Tree

I am convinced that a mama and papa hummingbird have set up housekeeping in my front yard maple tree. I wish them good fortune and blessings. I’ve never seen a cat in that maple, but I’ve seen lots of squirrels. Maybe the tiny birds have attached their nest to a limb that’s too fragile for […]

An Eye on the Sky

An Eye on the Sky

Thunder shakes the house as lightning shivers across the sky. Car lights, like glowing eyes, glide down the street. Tree limbs, darker than the sky behind them, move restlessly in the wind while inside the small, brick house, the writer peers at her computer screen. Yes, that’s me this morning. We are under a tornado […]