It was a dream. A nightmare. When I was a kid, I don’t remember seeing any over-sized hillbillies. Hill folk worked hard to squeeze a living from rocky soil. They were rugged, independent, self-sustaining people. Skinny, mostly, but healthy. They … Read More
Run the Cat Roads
Before there was a lottery, and people had to grab cash the old-fashioned way, Bonnie & Clyde knew about Dearborn, Missouri. Dearborn is popular now because of America’s latest Powerball winner. But until recently, when the equivalent of one half … Read More
Ode to the Independent Bookstore
I was among friends. Some of them were worn and tired. Some showed classic lines. All had something to say. They were books. Many were well seasoned, having felt the hands of at least one previous owner. Some were brand … Read More
Winter Water
The air was cold, a few degrees above freezing. A north wind tried to aggravate us, but Cora blocked its best gusts. Cora is the island on our port side. We’d survived the toughest part of the trip: launching a … Read More
Locked Out Again
Connie stays across the river from downtown Kansas City at the old municipal airport. She’s known more formally as a Lockheed Constellation, the airline workhorse of the 1950s. If you saw her, you’d instantly recognize the plane, with her curvy … Read More
O Danny Boy…
Daniel O’Dwyer would approve of new Pope Francis, I suspect. I have no way of knowing for sure, since Daniel O’Dwyer, my great grandfather, died eleven popes ago, shortly after the long reign of Pope Pius IX. Pius excommunicated Daniel … Read More
My Favorite Road
One of the most legendary highways on Earth unfolds over 300 Missouri miles, and bears a name that’s the highest tribute ever bestowed a route: the Mother Road. But it’s a mother with multiple personalities. Before it bore children west, … Read More