Creekbank Stories Curt Iles, Storyteller

The Creek named Dry Creek I live in the village/small community called Dry Creek.  The actual creek flows through our community. Oldtimers told me the original Indian name for the creek was “Beautiful Creek” and the English translation got mixed up. Regardless, this area is my home.  My first ancestors to settle on this creek were Andrew Jackson Wagnon and …

Life is a big circle. That’s one thing being middle-aged teaches you. It all comes back around sooner or later. And that’s a good thing. An Echo from the Pines Yesterday I was at one of the prettiest cemeteries in America, Lyles Cemetery.  If you’ve never visited it, it is 1.5 miles east of the Topsy-Bel Road that connects US …

I grew up in a great place – the rural South. There are so many wonderful things about a country Southern upbringing.  One of the best parts is the large extended family you grow up in.  As a small boy I had a multitude of great grandparents, grandparents, great uncles and aunts galore, cousins, and every other kin folk in …

In this excerpt from A Good Place,  12 year old Mayo is being chased by a wild bull called “Roscoe.”  I grew up in “Open Range” country where cattle roamed everywhere.  The story below is gleaned from an old family story concerning my great great uncle, Dan Iles. Climbing through another treetop, I broke off a small limb. When I …

Living in the Past But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. –Paul in Philippians 3: 13 My current manuscript, A Spent Bullet, deals with two young Americans in 1941 who have regrets from the past. Harry, a soldier training in Louisiana, has a dark secret from his life in Milwaukee. Elizabeth, a …

Quote for the day: “A writer should strive to be a person on whom nothing is lost.”  -Henry James Readers:  Here is a link to an excellent blog by my friend, Dr. David Holder:   http://drdave3.blogspot.com/ Pickups and Real Men I often listen to Dave Ramsey and his excellent financial radio program.  Recently a female caller related, “Today, my husband sold …

“Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai.” -Numbers 1:1 (NKJV) It’s often easy to skip over a verse. I’m sure I’ve read the “book of Numbers numerous times.” (How’s that for alliteration.) There’s truth in this verse that simply states how the Lord spoke to Moses. God still speaks in the wilderness. The wilderness, whether it …

Praise the Lord & pass the ammunition “And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.” –Nehemiah 4:9 In this passage, the author Nehemiah shares his two-fold plan for dealing with an attack from enemies on his wall-building project. This plan includes the most important thing we can ever do when …

This is my current reading list: One Second After/William Forstchen The Victors: Eisenhower and His Boys/Stephen Ambrose Trusting God Even When Life Hurts/ Jerry Bridges I’ve learned that reading is one of the most important things I can do for growth as a writer and human being.  I’d love to hear what you’re reading.  Make a comment on this blog …

Little things… “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed…”  -Jesus in Matthew 13:31 Japan’s Nobunari Oda has probably never seen a mustard seed, but he would fully understand Jesus’ use of this metaphor. Oda stopped his free skate yesterday at the Vancouver Olympics with about a minute left because of a torn right skate lace. A torn skate …

A pause that refreshes. I took a break from the computer this week.  I spent the week with my grandsons, most of it outdoors in spite of the weather. I purposely gave my laptop to my friend, Mark Miller.  He worked on several glitches I have, including its slowness. It returned to me today a much faster and more cherished …

New Orleans… City I love, City I hate Now as He (Jesus) drew near, He saw the city and wept over it. Luke 19:41-42 NKJV   This story from Hearts across the Water, was written in 2005.  It’s still one of my favorites because it attempts to explain the unique relationship between New Orleans and the “rest of us” in …

Saints win! As the game wound down and the realization came that the Saints had won the Super Bowl, I thought back to Friday. I stood at the wooden coffin of Jimmy Arville as they closed his casket.  As an officiating minister it is my job to be there during that intimate personal moment when the coffin is sealed. Jimmy …

Gradual Miracles I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and wild beasts multiply against you. Little by little, I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land. Exodus 23:29-30 Often we define a miracle as something dramatic or wonderful that happens in a …