31. The Wait

In a little house on Venus Drive, she waited for him to come home from the war.  She passed the time making airplanes and when he got home, he told all his friends that she was a better mechanic than anyone in town. His car ran because of her expertise.
Telling you that much, if you’re [...]

Happy Halloween!

Season of the Witch

I can only warn you not to watch the video.  I can’t stop you.

I’m Starting to Wonder if I Need Professional Help

Ha, not that kind. Professional genealogical help. Let us ponder the question of Luke Phillips from a new angle. The only people whose word we have that there was a guy named Luke Phillips who was born in 1808 in New York are Ole Luke himself and his family members, all of whom told Census [...]

30. The Demoss Hollow House

There is a house in Demoss Hollow, just off River Road, west of town that is tucked so far back away that you can’t see it from the road. It has the twin chimneys and the low slung porch that say that it was built a while ago.  It has, at least, been there as [...]

My Baby Brother

Today is the Butcher’s birthday. I can remember when he was a baby, his chubby legs and his cute smile.  I remember when he was in little league and when he played high school football.
I am so deeply honored to know him and to have gotten to know him his whole life.
And I’m glad my [...]

29. Let Me Call You Sweetheart

“Lookaway” is the name of the old house on Manila Street. It was a wedding gift from Mr. Whitson to his new bride, Beth Slater Whitson. You have probably never heard of her.  When the house was for sale a couple of years ago, the listing made no mention of her ever having lived there.  [...]

Photos Relevant to Recent Posts

27 Redux

I took a shot at fixing the story for the 27th.

28. Hickory Hollow Mall

Everyone says that the reason why no one goes to Hickory Hollow Mall is because it’s not safe, that it’s over-run with teenagers and gang members or teenagers who are gang members.
There’s another reason, though, in addition to that.
How many times can a woman be walking through the mall only to feel a small hand [...]

Well, Damn

I just got bumped.
No NPR for me. My dad will have to call and ungloat to my uncle.

“So, Your Uncle Got in Some Crappy Paper and You Get to be on NPR?”

Well, so, I am about to fall over. Right over. I just got asked to be on the weekend All Things Considered, and read them a ghost story.
They found them on Metafilter, because one of you was kind enough to stick them up there.
I am so excited and thrilled and unsure about which one is [...]

Yep, That’s My Uncle

We have a wide variety of political opinions in our family. Some of them make it into USA Today.

Our Hiestands

Henry came over from what is now Switzerland. He had a son, Jacob, who had a son, Jacob, who had a son, David, who had a son, Nathaniel, who had a son, George, who had a daughter, Ina Mae, who had a son, Hildreth, who had a son, Brent, who had us.
David had a brother, [...]

27. 18th Avenue North

No one is sure if the thing on 18th Avenue North actually constitutes a ghost. But no one is sure what else to call it. Some say that you can almost see it on rainy or foggy days, a shape, like a person, but not quite, around which the moisture bends as the shape moves [...]

Oh, Pith, How I Love You

They let my oblique oral sex joke stand.

Luke Phillips, You Vex Me!

On the Phillips side I have tracked me, my dad, Hick, Frank, Oscar, and Luke.  Oh, Luke Phillips. Claiming to be born in 1808 in New York to people who were born in Connecticut, I find no evidence for his existence prior to 1850, when he shows up on the Federal Census AND when he [...]

26. The Cat that Said “Ma Ma”

The women who worked Dickerson heard the cat days before they saw it.  The noise sounded enough like a human voice, words in the distance, not quite made out. But the working girls had, if they had been on the street any length of time, learned to ignore voices not directed at them.
It was just [...]

The Tennessee State Library and Archives

I spent the morning at the state library and archives trying to figure out where Elizabeth Bennett’s tavern was. No luck. But all of the people there were a hoot–from the guard who was telling me his philosophy on women and why you shouldn’t run around on your wife (it boiled down to “If you [...]

Young Buck

I was on my way to the gas station when a beautiful six point buck leaped across Clarksville pike and then across Lloyd (so I got to see him twice) and he leaped like he was almost begging to be chased.
Even the truck coming the other way stopped to watch.

The Myth of the ‘Reasonable’ Discussion

I get tired of the dynamic of Kleinheider says something, I point out how stupid it is, he points out that I’ve pointed out how stupid it is, etc., etc., etc., but today he wrote something not so much stupid as nefarious.
And that’s this column which is, in essence, about how reasonable people can agree [...]

Creating in Fly-Over Country

I really love this post and the comments.  The thing that struck me, especially, though, is the fact that it’s not just New York and LA. It’s specific neighborhoods in New York and LA. Whole communities, even in those areas, aren’t seen as acceptable places for stories to happen.
Hmm.

25. Adelicia Acklen

It works best if you have two young, suggestible pre-teen girls in your back seat.  You take them to Bobby’s Dairy Dip and then start filling their heads with ghost stories about Adelicia Acklen.  It doesn’t matter which stories you choose to tell.
Start with the ones about how greedy she was and so she never [...]

Booooorrrrriiiinnnngggg

People, if there is ever another time when I have to pee in a cup for 24 hours straight, would you please just, I don’t know, at least make sure I have found my pile of books. I cleaned the kitchen and learned that the tiny cat, who claims to not be able to get [...]

Take a Walk Down Lloyd Road With Mrs. Wigglebottom!