Creekbank Stories Curt Iles, Storyteller

A word from Curt I’ve never liked the R word. Resolutions. I prefer to talk and think about the bigger issue of how I want to be a difference maker in this new year. I call it the 30,000 foot view. Personally, I craft a yearly Life ...

Let Your Word be Your Bond   “Your word and integrity is yours and yours alone to keep or lose.” –Preston Moses   In the Pineywoods, major business deals have been sealed with a handshake and a man’s word. We have a saying for it: ...

Courage I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. –Nelson Mandela   Grandsons, you’ll be in situations where one man can make a difference: The difference in a win or loss. The difference in the right outcome or ...

Resilience   My father-in-law, a very wise man, once pointed out some ancient persimmon trees along an old wagon road near his boyhood home. “See how those trees are scarred along their bases? It’s from the logs bumping against them as they were dragged to ...

Integrity   Integrity is who you are when no one is looking, and what you will stand up for even if you’re standing alone. –John Maxwell   Rather than ramble on about what integrity is, I’ll tell a story. It’s a remarkable true story that ...

Book 1: Relationships   Everything rises and falls on relationships. –John Maxwell Shake like a Man “When you give a man a handshake, make sure it’s firm because it shows you’re a man.” –John Groves When I was a young teenager, Tubby and Agnes King ...

Foreword: Dinosaurs “Tell me who you are, and I’ll tell you where you’re from.” –Wallace Stegner I was born in the Louisiana Pineywoods when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth. Most of them are gone, and I still miss them greatly. They helped shape my life, ...

A word from Curt Beginning this week, I’ll be sharing short posts about how I am learning to use the end of the year/beginning of the new to review the past year and plan for the new one.  Join us at the Creekbank beginning on ...

        A Word from Curt   Grateful. Gratitude is one of my 6+ words for 2016. I’m thankful for the wonderful gifts in my life. Today I’m thankful to have the calling of writing. It’s what I do. Who I am.  I’m ...

December 29  Sharp Hooks   Reas Weeks was a Dry Creek legend who lived and died before my time. He was a bachelor who lived in a remote area along Bundick Creek. He never owned a vehicle or held a regular job. He supported himself ...

December 28 The 100-Foot Line     There’s a fine stand of young slash pine at Dead Man’s curve on the Longville Road. I’ve watched the growth of this forest since it was clear cut, then replanted in straight rows. The following year, the pines ...

  December 28 The 100-Foot Line     There’s a fine stand of young slash pine at Dead Man’s curve on the Longville Road. I’ve watched the growth of this forest since it was clear cut, then replanted in straight rows. The following year, the ...

December 27   We’re walking you through the week after Christmas.  I call it “Bah Humbug Week.”  It’s a time of recovery from Christmas.  It’s often a difficult week. I believe it’s an essential week.   A time to slow down. A time to take ...

For the next week, through January 1, I’ll share a daily short short story with thoughts to help us all navigate that wonderful week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. I lovingly call it “Bah Humbug” Week. It can be the most difficult week of ...