The power has to go out for you to see the stars at night as brightly as we did during the Great Depression. We have a yard light now, two of them really, and we can see the glow of the night lights of Knoxville on the Southeast horizon. There might be a shooting star but we don't bother looking for one. There are too many other things to do. After all, the best television programs are on at night. No, we don't linger outside like we used to do.

Mincey’s Musings
Year One, Week Twenty-Five

Once again, we find ourselves close to an election. Our founding fathers saw it necessary to create our national system of government to have a balance of power that would prevent any one group from becoming dictatorial. That is why we have a President as head of the Executive Branch, the Senate and House of Representatives that serve as the Legislative Branch (the only branch of our national government that has its own balance of power), and the Supreme Court Justices as heads of the Judicial Branch.

Water is the world’s most healthy and inexpensive beverage. It can increase energy and endurance, prevent kidney stones, aid digestion, and regulate body temperature. Yet few of us consume as much as we should.

It is surprising how much water your body loses in a day. About two cups are lost just breathing, and another two cups are lost through perspiration just sitting around. Another six cups are lost through kidney and intestinal function. That’s 10 cups you lose just doing office work.

This may seem like a strange title for a story, but as you will see, it is appropriate. This happened a long time ago, before I knew my stepfather. Cloy Weishuhn was of Dutch extraction. He was a mountain of a man, weighing in at about 450 pounds when he was dieting and closer to 500 pounds on a bad day. He was a used car salesman and a good one. One day he sold a used car with no motor in it. When the new owner tried to drive it away, and hit the starter, nothing happened. The motor has been taken out for repairs. With it installed, he drove off the lot, happy and a little wiser.

I was driving at the young age of 3. Not literally of course. I loved it when I sat in front of my Papaw as he drove his tractor. He would let me place my hands on the steering wheel with his while he drove. It is a cherished memory.

Needless to say, John Deere tractors were a fixture while I was growing up. Papaw always had at least 2. He also had an old red Massey Ferguson.

My mother would be horrified if she saw all the food we waste today. She had a knack with left-overs that was almost an art. I guess today it's a lost cause. I still get a guilt trip if I toss good food out to the critters, just because there isn't enough for another meal and the refrigerator is getting covered up with left-overs.

It was one of the most exciting nights of my life. I had traveled to the wilds of Kentucky to see John Fox Jr.’s The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come, the most Appalachian of all Civil War era novels, brought to life upon the stage. The setting deep in the woods of the Cumberland Mountains could not have been more authentic as were the stage and the seating.

So you think you don't have enough memories to write your life story? You are wrong. They just need to be brought out to the here and now. There is an excellent way to do it, take notes. It will take time, but you will see results.

There is nothing to stop you from writing your memories down on a note pad or in an exercise book. But memories rarely arrive in chronological order and when you start writing your book of life stories, you will be forever flicking backwards and forwards through the pages trying to find the note that you want.

Robert Kato, a Longhunter reenactor, speaks at the June 9, 2018 meeting of the Nicholas Gibbs Historical Society.

Groups called Longhunters [18th century explorers and hunters] were the first to blaze the trails into the American wilderness across the United States. Elisha Wolfe led a group of Longhunters as early as 1761-1765.

Years before Harry Potter inspired older children to keep reading, Augustus inspired me, late in the primary grades, to keep reading. We were about the same age when we met at the school library. Eventually I grew up, but I never forgot him. In my imagination, he will always be out there somewhere on the Mississippi River with his kind, well meaning, but somewhat dysfunctional family.

Augustus' family not only lived in a houseboat on the river, but also lived off the river. What could be more exciting to an eight-year-old boy?