Life Lessons from Hog Dogs

It’s “Dog Week” here at the Creekbank.  I hope you enjoy this story about how my grandpa’s hog dogs taught a lesson about the need for rest.   “Come apart or you will come apart.”  – Vance Havener I come from a long line of men and women who lived in the woods and loved their dogs.  Here is a dog story with a reminder as we start a new year. My...

Thoughts on loving a dog

I come from a family of dog lovers and grew up in a dog-loving rural culture.  (One of my older friends, Lela Boggs Harper, always said,  “Curt, don’t trust no one that doesn’t like dogs.”) I have no problems with cats or even people who don’t share my great love of dogs. I’m just thankful that dogs are, and have been, a big and satisfying part of my life. ...

Art from Bill Iles

I’d like to invite everyone within SW Louisiana to drop by an excellent art show at the RealArt DeRidder Gallery. Tonight, Dec. 29 from 6:00-8:00 PM, is the opening reception. Four DeRidder natives, including my beloved uncle Bill Iles, are featured in this show called “Coming Home.” The paintings are on display through Jan. 9.  At the closing of the show on that date, local...

Three reasons why I write

“To the world you may just one person; to one person, you may be the world.”     -C.S. Lewis Three reasons why I write I’m asked nearly weekly, “Why do you write?” Here are three short stories that answer that question: My friend Wayne is living in Dallas right now. He’s awaiting a double lung transplant that will save his life. He’s a long ways from his home in the...

Stolen Christmas Trees… Thoughts on Holiday Giving

A Stolen Christmas Tree From the book,  Wind in the Pines, by Curt Iles   copyright 2004 Creekbank St0ries “I know I tagged a tree in this area.”  Those are the words of my neighbor, Mitzi Foreman, as she walks through our Christmas tree farm on a blustery Sunday afternoon. Together we search through where she tagged her tree last week but cannot find it. “Well, maybe your tag blew off...