A Pat on the Head A short story containing an old dog, a famous horse, an eulogy at a country funeral, and ending with a tragic plane crash, will be one of two things: It will either be a forgettable tangle of tales that leave a reader frustrated. Or it may be a wonderfully woven story imparting lessons that can change our lives. My hope is that it is the latter. You—the...

A Friend named Ivory From the book, The Mockingbird’s Song by Curt Iles “The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing … not healing, not curing … that is a friend who cares.” –Henri Nouwen “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity”...

Ivory “guarding” the office.   “Sugar and Ivory” From the Curt Iles book,Hearts across the Water It’s odd but I will always think of two dogs when I think of the long night that Hurricane Rita struck Dry Creek Camp. We had 350 people on our grounds. They had been moved and bedded down in our most solid dorms and everyone took enough food and water for the next...

A honeysuckle bouquet from Crooked Bayou Swamp The sweet smell of honeysuckle (And the beauty of dogwoods) I live in the deep South by choice. In spite of any shortcomings Louisiana may have, it has been a wonderful place to raise our family and live life to the fullest. There is one month when I’m most glad to be a “Louisianian.” It’s March. And there are two major reasons...

Spring dogwood in bloom Crooked Bayou Swamp Dogwoods under the Pines The following story is from my novel, The Wayfaring Stranger. This passage takes place in March of 1850 western Louisiana. This dogwood story details the growing love affair between the Irishman Joe Moore and the Redbone girl, Eliza Clark. It was over a week before Joe’s next visit. Mid-March in Louisiana was nearly always...