No Place Like Home

A reviewer for my new novel, Blue Shadows Farm, wrote, “When a family lives on a place for a hundred years that place becomes a part of the family.” How true it is. Place becomes integral to the people who live there, it provides security, offers peace and contentment—place becomes home.

For several decades the citizens of the U.S. were viewed as a nomadic people. This is not as true anymore. An October19th NEWSWEEK article titled “There’s no place like home” makes the point. Less people are moving these days. More are staying put, living out their lives in their home communities.

The article points out that retired people are choosing to stay close to family, churches, friends and familiar surroundings rather than pack up and move to the sunbelt. And those in the corporate world often chose family over another move up the corporate ladder, which usually requires changing locations. For an increasing number of workers, family nearby is more important than a promotion. Of course technology and the ability to work at home have made it easier for some people to keep their jobs and not move.

Is this a new trend? Staying at home? Developing a love for place?

Place has always been important in my family. The longer we’ve lived at a place and the more we know about its history and stories, the more likely we are to appreciate and take care of it. It seems many others are thinking the same way.



THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Be careful of the past, it always looks better than it was.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Oct. 28, 6:30 p.m. Elkhorn Library. Featuring Old Farm and Blue Shadows Farm

Nov 6-8: National Farm Toy Show, Dyersville, Iowa. Book signing: Blue Shadows Farm and other titles

November 14, 9:30-11:30 a.m., Sheboygan County Historical Research Center, Sheboygan Falls Library. Blue Shadows Farm.

December 12, 10 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Fireside Books, West Bend, WI. Book signing. Presentation at 10:30 a.m. Blue Shadows Farm.

Story Writing Workshop

They came from Rice Lake and West Bend, from Prairie du Sac and Green Bay, from Westby and Bailey’s Harbor, from Baraboo and McFarland, from Sturgeon Bay and Niles, Illinois. They traveled to The Clearing in Door County, to a place where nature was showing off its autumn finery—crimson red maples, strikingly yellow birches, and a sky bluer than the waters of Green Bay. Seventeen people.

They attended a Saturday workshop to write their stories, to scribble down their memories to be shared with loved ones, with children and grandchildren, with spouses, siblings and cousins, with those interested in another view of history, a personal view.

They wrote their stories, as many as one could in the few available hours, and they shared them with each other. At times laughter filled the room. And then quiet, as sad stories were shared, heart wrenching stories of an earlier day, but still vivid in memories.

Their common bond: the importance of the story. A way to share what being human means. A way to have fun, a way to pass on history, a way to tie generations together. A way to remember that through story we remember who we are.


THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Each of us has a responsibility to share a bit of our life story with those who follow.

MAJOR EVENTS TO NOTE:

Oct. 20, 7:00 p.m. Barnes and Noble, Madison West. Official Book Launch, Blue Shadows Farm

Oct. 24, 1:00 p.m. Wild Rose Library. Book Launch, Central Wisconsin, Blue Shadows Farm

NEW REVIEW FOR BLUE SHADOWS FARM:

An intriguing and entertaining tale, October 15, 2009
By: Midwest Book Review

When a family stays in one place for a century, that place becomes a member of the family. "Blue Shadows Farm" is a novel taking place over a century as three generations of Starkweathers care for a farm and face their own challenges. A small area in Wisconsin, Silas comes to found the farm in the mid nineteenth century. His son Abe finds himself bootlegging to keep the bills paid during prohibition, and Abe's daughter is challenged with its sale. Bouncing between the perspectives of the three protagonists, "Blue Shadows Farm" paints a vivid picture of the history of rural America, making for one intriguing and entertaining tale.

ADDITIONAL COMING EVENTS:

Oct. 28, 6:30 p.m. Elkhorn Library. Featuring Old Farm and Blue Shadows Farm

Nov 6-8: National Farm Toy Show, Dyersville, Iowa. Book signing: Blue Shadows Farm and other titles

November 14, 9:30-11:30 a.m., Sheboygan County Historical Research Center, Sheboygan Falls Library. Blue Shadows Farm.

Killing Frost

The hand of winter came down from the north and snuffed the life out of all susceptible plants this past week. The first killing frost arrived in southern Wisconsin. And right on time, too. In southern Wisconsin, over the past years, the first killing frost is expected during the week of October 4-10. It’s a two to three weeks earlier in the north and central parts of the state.

The first killing frost marks the end of the growing seasons, a true marker for the beginning of fall. For those of us who grow things, it is a time to reflect on the harvest, to think about what crops did well and which didn’t. And to make a note or two about what we should do differently next year—which vegetable varieties to avoid, what new arrangement of crops in the garden should we consider, and which problems we faced that we can solve better next year (the invasion of bunnies in the bean patch).

Fall is a time for celebration. Even the trees in my woodlot are celebrating with color everywhere—greens, deep reds, yellows, browns, and tans.

And fall is a time for slowing down.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Take time to dream. Dream about what might be, what will never be, and what shouldn’t be. Too much doing with too little dreaming leads to boredom.

NEW NOVEL, BLUE SHADOWS FARM, NOW AVAILABLE: Check my website, www.jerryapps.com, for further information.

In Blue Shadows Farm, “You learn about threshing before combines dominated the activity. You learn about small town life from 1860-2000—the taverns, the churches, the mercantile, the dance pavilion, the gossips, the hired man, the intrusion of folks from the Big City who try to impose their wishes on the localities that time forgot—the Big Cities too often win.” Dave Woods. Review in the Red Wing Republican Eagle, Red Wing, Minnesota.

Check my schedule below for book signings and presentations.



COMING EVENTS:
Oct. 15, 7:00 p.m. Reader’s Loft, Green Bay, Blue Shadows Farm

Oct. 20, 7:00 p.m. Barnes and Noble, Madison West. Official Book Launch, Blue Shadows Farm

Oct. 24, 1:00 p.m. Wild Rose Library. Book Launch, Central Wisconsin, Blue Shadows Farm

Oct. 28, 6:30 p.m. Elkhorn Library. Blue Shadows Farm

Nov 6-8: National Farm Toy Show, Dyersville, Iowa. Book signing: Blue Shadows Farm and other titles

November 14, 9:30-11:30 a.m., Sheboygan County Historical Research Center, Sheboygan Falls Library. Blue Shadows Farm.

Story-Telling

We all have stories to tell. Of our childhood years, first jobs, military service, life changing events and never told secrets. But often we don’t take time to record them, to share them with our children and grandchildren, to recall for ourselves what we have done and what we have left undone.

A few years ago I attended a workshop in New York City and had an opportunity to speak to United Nations delegates about the importance of stories in the lives of people.When I finished, several African delegates spoke to me. One woman said, “We know the importance of stories in our culture and in our country.”

I replied that I was well aware of that, for I had long known about countries where story-telling is embedded in their culture. But then she said something I’ve never forgotten. With a quiet voice she said, “In your country, you have allowed others to tell your stories for you.” She was referring to movies and television.

No one can tell your story for you. You must do it yourself, and it’s important that you do. So take a few minutes now and again, and write down some of your memories. Get down your stories for your own sake and for the sake of those who follow you.

On Tuesday, October 6, 11:00 a.m. I will be discussing story-telling on Wisconsin Public Radio—the Larry Meiller show.

On Saturday, October 17, (9-4:00) I am teaching a one-day workshop on story-writing at The Clearing in Door County. Contact http://www.theclearing.org.


THE OLD TIMER SAYS: When we forget our stories, we forget who we are.


NEW NOVEL, BLUE SHADOWS FARM, NOW AVAILABLE: Check my website for further information. Check my schedule below for book signings and presentations.


COMING EVENTS:
Oct. 4, 1:30 p.m. Monona Historical Society, Monona, Iowa, The Lighter Side of Country Living, including Blue Shadows Farm

Oct. 15, 7:00 p.m. Reader’s Loft, Green Bay, Blue Shadows Farm

Oct. 20, 7:00 p.m. Barnes and Noble, Madison West. Official Book Launch, Blue Shadows Farm

Oct. 24, 1:00 p.m. Wild Rose Library. Book Launch, Central Wisconsin, Blue Shadows Farm

Oct. 28, 6:30 p.m. Elkhorn Library. Blue Shadows Farm

Nov 6-8: National Farm Toy Show, Dyersville, Iowa. Book signing: Blue Shadows Farm and other titles

November 14, 9:30-11:30 a.m., Sheboygan County Historical Research Center, Sheboygan Falls Library. Blue Shadows Farm.