Category: Community & Environment

  • Winter Chicken House

    It’s cold today. That means winter. I have to admit that winter in Maricopa, Arizona is nothing like winter in Nolensville, Tennessee where I grew up. Be that as it may, the windows have been open here at home for the last few days and the cool crisp air reminds me of home. I have many happy memories of home. Two specifically of which this picture reminds me.

    This is the shed that stood behind our house growing up. Neither the house nor the shed is still there, but that’s what memories are for, after all.

    winter chicken house

    The first memory goes with the left side of the shed. Cutting, hauling, and stacking firewood with my dad. Most of the time in late fall before the ice and snow. Then fetching the firewood every morning before school and every afternoon after getting home from school. I joke that I was eleven before I knew my name wasn’t “Go Get Wood”.

    The second goes with the right side of the shed. That’s where I raised my blue ribbon 4-H chickens. I won first prize at the contest. Following that, I had a successful business, at least for a kid, selling eggs. I bought my first personal computer with that egg money.

    So, as winter comes on, reminding us that a new year approaches, take a moment and remember something nice. Thanks for sharing my memory with me.

  • Summertime Almost Over

    Summertime is almost over here in Phoenix, Arizona. Finally! Yes, I understand that in most parts of the country people look forward to the summer. For those of us who live in the (so called and often feels like literally) Valley of the Sun, where the temp can hit 120 and not drop below 100, day or night for weeks on end, not so much. In the coming posts (I know, I know) I’ll be writing about “what I did on my summer vacations”. Can’t wait. Talk soon.