Each May (for the past several years) I have written a column/letter/blog to my seniors at Aurora High School. It is always a bittersweet time. I am anxious to see what they will all accomplish. But, I am always sad to see them go.  I guess that’s the “Mama Mobley” in/… Read full post »

My mother is no longer with us in this world, but her spirit remains alive and well in her children and grandchildren. She is the bar by which I measure my friends, my colleagues and strangers I encounter.

You didn't have to be around Faye McMorris… Read full post »

In the past, I have used a poem by George Ella Lyon to teach a variety of things, from symbolism to imagery to sensory writing skills.

She is a poet and an educator and knows the value of connecting would-be writers to their anchors to create a sense… Read full post »

Welcome, 2013, & Hang On For The Ride!

“Begin the new year square with every man."
-Robert B. Thomas, founder of The Old Farmer's Almanac

In my longtime role as newspaper editor, I had a standing gig on New Year’s writing a tongue… Read full post »

Welcome, 2013, & Hang On For The Ride!

“Begin the new year square with every man."
-Robert B. Thomas, founder of The Old Farmer's Almanac

In my longtime role as newspaper editor, I had a standing gig on New Year’s writing a… Read full post »

Welcome, 2013, & Hang On For The Ride!

“Begin the new year square with every man."
-Robert B. Thomas, founder of The Old Farmer's Almanac

In my longtime role as newspaper editor, I had a standing gig on New Year’s writing a tongue… Read full post »

December 2012

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

to You and Yours!

Looking back at the past year, it has been full of milestones and benchmarks. My son, Jake, graduated from Drury University--with two bachelor’s degrees in May. He is pursuing his career in banking and continues to… Read full post »

I have been posting my Thankful November posts since the first of the month on Facebook, my favorite social media site. I love this time of year for a lot of reasons, mainly because it was my mother’s favorite time of year—when she celebrated her birthday, gathered her family around the… Read full post »

I have been posting my Thankful November posts since the first of the month on Facebook, my favorite social media site. I love this time of year for a lot of reasons, mainly because it was my mother’s favorite time of year—when she celebrated her birthday, gathered her family around the… Read full post »

After almost half a century of meandering around Northwest Arkansas by foot, wagon, horse, truck, automobile and trolley, I didn’t think there was a place in Eureka Spring, Arkansas, I hadn’t written about, photographed or prowled around. I found out last Friday night I was wrong. (Keep i… Read full post »

“Tell me and I forget.

Teach me and I learn.

Involve me and I remember.”

                                   &nb… Read full post »

Pumpkins are off the vine.

Mums are in full bloom.

The threat of frost is in the air.

A light fog hovers over Highway 39 as I head south from my home near Madry towards the Arkansas line.

Johnny Cash is on my stereo telling… Read full post »

Okay.

I’ve been waiting a year to see what they do next.

I am fighting the urge to drive to the site right now to wait on them.

I love the smell of old paper.

I love the look of old ink.

I love the feel… Read full post »

My dual credit English students are writing their own obituaries the next couple of weeks. I designed the assignment to enhance their understanding of certain types of literature because so many of our literary classics have themes involving death, grief, tragedies and new beginnings.

 … Read full post »

A friend of mine asked me when the first public school was chartered in Aurora, Missouri. I found an old document in a box that talks about the first school house in town was noted in 1873 and was a “little white frame building,…near where Franklin School” used to stand.… Read full post »

The Ozarks…

The region is diverse in its offerings and rich in its heritage.

Those who have found the secret of living and working here know the people of the hills, hollers, valleys and towns are equally wealthy in terms of standards, goals, values, work… Read full post »

Holding those old, yellowed, newspaper clippings in your hands helps recall treasured memories from days gone by. From Jake’s homerun at McDonald County to Grandma Carrie’s obituary from the 1960s, we find our hearts in the midst of our treasures.

Old letters, bright Chris… Read full post »

I was checking my Facebook wall Tuesday this week and saw where a former graduate of Aurora High School, Marcia Moreland, had visited with a teacher in a nearby community at a back to school open house event.

In visiting with this teacher, Marcia told him she had heard through the… Read full post »

My summer is quickly winding to a close. But I am always eager and ready for whatever’s around the corner. A new school year is always fun.

There was so much I wanted to accomplish this summer, so many places I wanted to go and piles of stuff I wanted… Read full post »

Several authors, experts and professors spoke to us throughout our week at Civil War Camp, otherwise known as Crossroads of Conflict July 8-13 on the campus of University of Missouri at Kansas City.

Among those experts were Diane Mutti Burke (On Slavery’s Border), Dr. Chris Phil… Read full post »

I am at a National Endowment for the Humanities event this week in Kansas City.  I have been telling everyone I am at Civil War Camp. That’s what those of us who have become “history groupies” call it. We spend a lot of time in the classroom and a lot of… Read full post »

I was on my way to town Tuesday to write my weekly column. I was figuring on something about God, country, apple pie and patriotism…my usual Independence Day fare.

Then a friend called and informed me that Andy Griffith had died. My mind whirled. My eyes watered and my stomach… Read full post »

I am in Indianapolis this week for a Project Based Learning Conference with three of my colleagues from  Aurora High School.

My dad spent some time in Indiana in the 1940s.  I figure I still have relatives here. I’ve been here a couple of times for FFA events and… Read full post »

 "The past is never dead. It's not even past." –William Faulkner.

I love road trips.

I love history.

I love stories.

I love mysteries.

I am always myself when I have the steering wheel in my hands and the open road before me. Sometimes there’s… Read full post »

I love to pick up treasures from the past at garage sales, flea markets and estate auctions. I am particularly happen when the item in question helps tells a tale about the Ozarks, its colorful people and its vast history.

One such item in my possession is… Read full post »