The country roadways in most areas locally have become bumpy and are now rough for traveling. A driver has to watch out for pot holes filled with nothing but rock dust along the roads. I’ve been told, the rock road conditions were brought on by a rea...

It’s soup weather! With this week’s cold snap, it’s time to create one of my favorite and easy meals. To top things off, delicious soups make my husband and family happy this time of year. Soup may be made in a crock pot in the morning and enjoy...

Shopping on a Saturday afternoon is nothing like it used to be. A drive down the main street shows only a few vehicles parked and in some towns, the main street is bare on Saturday afternoons. Several of the stores display closed signs and advertise...

It is with a heavy heart that I write this week’s Country Roads as hearing and seeing all that is currently happening in Israel is so terrible. Prayers are with Israel and its people. My mind goes back to thoughts I shared a few months ago with a f...

It’s pumpkin time! They are ready for picking up in stores, at local markets and in gardens. Yards, porches and homes have fake or real pumpkins on display, adding to the fall spirit. There are the usual real pumpkins, or pumpkins made out of f...

It’s been great weather so far this fall. Most of us received much needed rain over a week ago and everything is greening up. The temperatures have been just right to get outside and do some fall work, or just to enjoy the day. The evenings are c...

Where did the summer go? In just a few days, autumn will arrive. You’d think with this summer being so hot and with a lack of rain, it would seem like summer drug by but for some of us, it somehow flew by. Autumn arrives with football and v...

Sept. 11, 2001! It’s hard to believe it was 22 years ago that the United States was blatantly and willfully attacked by terrorists. The horrible scenes of the Twin Towers in New York as they were hit and fell to the ground were shown by the media. M...

Communicating with people, other than in person, has come a long way. Earlier forms of communication included scratching pictures on rocks and trees for others to read, body language, smoke signals, shooting of firearms and tapping on something....

After six days of more than 100 degree daytime weather, relief came at the end of the week with a much needed rain and cooler temperatures. A drive along the country back roads showed a display of native sunflowers and how showy they are now....

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A perfect Sunday afternoon was enjoyed. There was no boating on the lake, or a big family picnic going on. It was a simple Sunday following Sunday School and the church worship service in the morning, a nice lunch at a local cafe with a cousin, and...

Last week, my hubby and I headed to Colorado for a short trip to get away from the heat. We had a good time but when we went to view the Royal Gorge, I chickened out walking out to the bridge to view down into the canyon below, as my semi-fear of...

In this hot summer weather, I must admit I’ve been doing a lot of lollygagging and even some dilly dallying. Now I have no idea where those phrases originally came from, but I remember my grandmother, mother and others using those unusual sayings. L...

7 summer is turning out to be a “a hot and dry one”as the end of July temperatures crank up into the high 90s and into the low 100s. We thought it couldn’t get any worse than it did last year, but it seems to be proving to be that way. For the far...

A while back, a cousin of mine gave me a picture that some may question the subject matter in the picture. It is of a few head of cattle walking into and around an abandoned house, in the middle of a pasture. I proudly have it hanging on a wall in...

Being a long time farm wife, I’ve learned to recognize signs or signals given by my farmer as to what he really is feeling or wanting. The minute he walks through the door and asks if I have time to make a quick trip to town, I know he is in need o...

July has arrived and with it has come fireworks, camping, picnics, swimming, fresh garden products, family reunions, freezers of homemade ice cream, boating, fishing, county fairs and vacation trips. Usually in this rural area July means checking cat...

It will soon be time to celebrate another Independence Day, July 4th, the birthday of our country, the United States of America! It would take a giant birthday cake to hold our country’s 247 candles. When we think of America’s most patriotic son...

Burr Oak, my hometown, is unusual in having two main road bridges with creeks running under them, within the town’s city limits. Since the town was founded where the Burr Oak Creek joins the White Rock Creek, there had to be bridges on the north s...

While driving past a corn field, a large red bull was spotted, lazily grazing in the lush corn without a care in the world. My husband and I talked about who the bull probably belonged to, but couldn’t come with a clue. My husband assured me that bef...

Thoughts often take us back to happy times in our youth, with childhood friends and classmates. There were many birthday parties and slumber parties, where several girl friends would get together and have lots of laughs and fun times that will never...

One flower noticed the most in the cemeteries this time of the year is the beautiful peony. The peonies are blooming in all their glory, showing off their colorful and fragrant blooms in cemeteries, yards, and even in vacant yards and landscapes. In...

It was a perfect sunny morning at the Burr Oak Cemetery to hold the annual Memorial Day Service and to view the 131 American Flags that make up the Avenue of Flags in honor of the deceased local veterans. The Emory Clemons Unit 263, American Legion...

Memorial Day will soon be here. It is a day of remembering and honoring those that are no longer with us as we visit cemeteries and memorial statues. Flowers and flags are left at grave sites of soldiers and veterans who died, and at the grave sites...