Technology ended the Pony Express

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telegraph

Iconic drawing depicting a Pony Express rider passing by workers setting telegraph poles.
Image courtesy of the University of Nebraska.

Progress is a good thing. But sometimes, an advance in technology also creates a little sadness.

The Pony Express originated from St. Joseph, Mo., in April 1860. It was, at the time, the fastest thing going and connected the nation at a critical time in its history. Though hoofbeats still echo here in St. Joe, the pony ran for just 18 months before technology put it out of business.

Edward Creighton, a successful and generous businessman in Omaha, Neb., commissioned the surveying of a telegraph line between the Missouri River and the West Coast. On Oct. 24, 1861, the Transcontinental Telegraph was completed. On Oct. 26, 1861, the Pony Express ended. It just so happens that Oct. 26 is also my birthday.

And now, 153 years later, I live in St. Joseph and found this intriguing little tidbit while writing a historical novel set in the early days of the Pony Express. (Could I even say “Telegraph killed the Pony Express star?)

Telegraph communication was much more effective than the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Co. The telephone even better,  only to be topped by video chat or Skype. Still, there’s something romantic about a lone rider carrying the mail across the plains. Thank goodness he can live on through stories!

Susie

 

Davy Crockett Bars

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Another hit from the Mires Family cookbook. A friend requested the recipe for Davy Crockett Bars.2012-10-13 08.42.11 Why are they called Davy Crockett Bars? I have no idea.

Thanks to both cousins Alice and Becci who submitted this recipe.

Davy Crockett Bars

2 c. flour
1 c. white sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 c. brown sugar
2 c. quick oats
2 eggs
1 c. oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. chocolate chips

Mix together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and soda. Stir is brown sugar and oats, then add eggs, oil and vanilla. Last, stir in the chocolate chips. The dough is very thick. Press into a jelly roll (11×17) pan. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes. You can also press the chips into the top of the dough and mix chocolate and butterscotch chips.

Called To Write 2014 – I’ll be learning and presenting

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The countdown is on to my favorite writers conference. Called To Write Conference will be here in about seven weeks.

Called To Write was the first writers conference I ever attended and as I go back year after year, it keeps getting better. It’s where I first met Julane and Sara and Kathy and other writers who I love to connect with each year.

The conference will be April 3-5 in Pittsburg, Kan. Julane and her chapter have managed to line up some world-class presenters. Best-selling Christian authors Janice Hanna Thompson and Kristen Heitzman will be leading several classes. The other presenters include Kathy and myself. I’ll be teaching on writing for newspaper and I’m quite looking forward to it.

Besides the wonderful classes, the Called To Write conference focuses on a writer’s calling to serve God and minister to others through the written word. It is an amazing value for just $70.

If you’ve ever thought about being a writer, you will not find a more affordable, uplifting, instructive conference than this one. Please consider going – if you haven’t signed up al ready! Click here to register.

I’ll see you there!

 

High rollers at the cattle auction

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The crowd at the United Producers sale barn on Saturday. Notice the dog at the left.

The crowd at United Producers in Maryville, Mo., on Saturday. Notice the dog sitting at the left.

The air in the sale barn was filled with more than the aroma of cattle. A sense of anticipation hung over the crowd and a sort of energy as they took seats early, eager to see just what would happen.

The cattle market is – in the words of one analyst – crazy. Drought and an early freeze have caused the smallest herd of beef cattle in many years. As a result, prices for all kinds of cattle are at record highs. I went to visit my dad on Saturday and tagged along when he went to the cow sale at the sale barn near home.

The auctioneer calls out bids. The sign at top shows they sold for $2,500 each.

The auctioneer calls out bids. The sign at top shows they sold for $2,500 each.

Dad had sold a few calves recently, receiving the highest price he’d ever gotten for a calf. In true farmer fashion, he wanted to put the money back into buying more mother cows to have more calves.

Fifteen minutes before sale time, the curved benches of the sale arena started filling up. Nodody wanted to miss this because it felt like just about anything could happen. I sat among those hard-working men who were dressed in brown duck coveralls and muddy boots and thought of a recent visit with a crop farmer. He said you had to be an optimist in this business, otherwise you’d never put seed in the ground.

There was a lot of optimism at the sale barn and it became clear I was rubbing elbows with some high-stakes gamblers. In a matter of minutes, one man spent $137,000 on 55 head of Red Angus heifers. I overheard one guy on his cell phone, I imagine talking to his wife, say: “They’re high. It’s scary.” But his tone suggested it was nothing he couldn’t handle.

There was also this row of adorable future farmers.

Learning young

Learning young

The last cow of the sale, a nice three-year-old black Angus cross, was bought by an eternal optimist – 94-year-old Hugh Mires of Maryville.

It also inspired me to do something I’ve never tried before. I uploaded this video to You Tube. If you’ve never heard a livestock auction, it’s interesting to hear how the high rollers do business. If you have been to a sale, you’ll enjoy the familiar cadence.

PS SmallI was very careful not to scratch my nose for fear I’d bid and spend a year’s salary. You could say that I’m all hat and no cattle, until I can work up the nerve to join the high rollers.

 

Fuel for the Fire

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Wood heat can’t be beat, as far as I’m concerned.

I grew up on the farm and the wood stove was our only source of heat. My dad loved chopping wood and stoking the fire. We had more more trouble being too hot than being too cold. The stove makes a natural place where we all still gravitate on a winter’s day. My mom cooked chili and ham and beans on the stove, simmering all day to reach a delicious aroma. The wood stove warmed us inside and out!

My little wood stove, powered by electricity with a candle to add scent.

My little wood stove, powered by electricity with a candle to add scent.

When I first purchased my home, I was quite leary of the gas furnace. Those things are dangerous – they can explode! A serviceman assured me the late-model unit was one of the safest things on the market. The furnace does have it’s advantages – it fires up automatically on a cold morning and no chainsaw required.

But it produces only a surface kind of heat compared to the deep-in-your-bones heat of a wood stove. A couple years ago, I purchased my own “wood stove.” Just an electric heater with a fake flame, but it warms me up.


Recently, I snuggled up in front of the fire (with my best reading buddy) to read the fabulous book Lincoln’s Battle With God.
As I read – on my Kindle Fire, no less – about Lincoln sitting by the fireplace late at night after finishing his chores to read and pursue his studies, it seemed like a connection.

A warm fire is good for the mind and the soul – even if it is just an electric one.

Keep warm!

 

True in 2014

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“The 22 Most Embarassing Pages of the 1990 JCPenney Christmas Catalog” might be an unlikely place to find my inspirational thought for 2014, but there it was.

penney sweaterI was giggling at the acid washed jeans and turtlenecks. Then this picture came up and suddenly, it felt like 1990 again and I was in high school.

This sweater – or something like it – was my dream. Pretty, soft and pastel. Girls who wore sweaters like that were beautiful. The kind of girls who styled their hair and had boyfriends and went to homecoming. Not girls like me, who had frizzy red hair, who lived on a farm and rode the bus to school, who’s big social engagement was youth group at church.

That pretty pink sweater – I was convinced if only I had that, it would make me happy. But look at it now, nothing more than a joke on the internet.

I have been thinking about how easy it is to be deceived by lies, to become convinced that the lies are true. This book I reviewed spurred my thinking. Sometimes, people take drastic steps – make life-changing decisions – because they believe something that’s not true.

A few days ago as I surfed through Facebook, looking at everyone’s Chritmas pictures, I was feeling pretty bummed. If only this or that were different…

But then I clicked on that funny link and it made me think. What if “this or that” would no more meet my heart’s desire than an aqua-colored sweater would? What if I measure every thought that I take into my heart and only accept what is true? What if I make decisions and live every day based on what is eternally true?

True – that is my word for 2014. And how to know what’s true? Check out this verse featured in Our Daily Bread on Dec. 30: The one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then He said to me “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” Revelation 21:5

Jesus said that He is the truth. I think I’ll be spending a lot of time with my Bible in 2014. Learning and believing what is TRUE.

Happy 2014!

Book Review: Sex and the Single Christian Girl by Marian Jordan Ellis

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A powerful book that provides real, honest help for Christian women – Marian Jordan Ellis has written an insightful guide.

Sex and the Single Christian Girl tackles the lies that have deceived many young women and torn their hearts to pieces. Ellis explains that her single years were like a war zone as she fought a relentless battle to protect her purity and her heart.

“In a culture where virgin is deemed a dirty word, it is rare that a young woman today would see her purity as worth fighting for,” she writes. To read those words – to have someone acknowlege the battle and the seeming futility of it – goes a long way to encourage weary warriors.

She provides practical advice on how to identify the enemy’s lies and to fight back. A welcome relief from advice about “how far is too far” and preparing for marriage, this book delves into the heart issues of why and when a young woman is susceptible, such as this: “One of the most vulnerable times of our life is when we are in pain. In our heartaches, sadness and unmet desires, Satan slithers in with his deceptions.”

Ellis draws from her own experiences of having grown up as a church girl, then being involved in hook ups and heartaches. She was saved and faced many long, lonely years of singleness and recently married. While this perspective allows for true-to-life encouragement, it falls short for, as Ellis calls us, “the ones who have waited.” Her advice is a one-paragraph warning to not be prideful because temptation can strike at any time.

Most of the book targets the temptation Christian women face of sleeping with their boyfriend before marriage. It’s probably the most honest, encouraging book on this specific issue that has been written. However, it is not a comprehensive guide for the other, complex issues a single woman faces as she wages one of the most important battles she will ever fight. As Ellis writes in the conclusion, “Purity is a lifelong pursuit without a finish line.”

I would recommend this book especially for twenty-somethings. It may also be appropriate for older teens. Women in their thirties and beyond will also find it helpful, though not the target audience.

I received this book from Bethany House in exchange for writing an honest review.

Christmas Dipping

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Making Christmas cookies and treats is just about my favorite thing of the season.

I’m baking things for my family and the office Christmas party on Tuesday. Saturday, I also had the chance to bake cookies for Jesus. Several years ago, some ladies in our church started a ministry to give plates of cookies to prisoners at the county jail. Many of the prisoners have written thank you notes. For these men and women who are at the lowest point in their life, to know someone thought of them  and cared enough to make homemade cookies really meant a lot.

This year, I felt compelled to share with them. Nothing fancy, just brownies and dipped pretzels (a personal favorite). And as I cooked, I prayed for the prisoners, that they would not just have a treat, but know Christ, who came to set the captives free.

almond barkWhen I opened the almond bark (What a strange name! I checked the ingredients, there is no almond or no bark in it.) I was delighted to discover that great innovations had been made in packaging. Instead of one solid brick that requires a hammer to break, it was packaged in a tray in neat little chunks, making it easy to select just what you need.

Almond bark is Christmas tradition. What is your favorite thing to dip in it?

Happy baking and dipping!

Hot Christmas Chili Peppers

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My gardening philosophy is to always plant a chili pepper – because it will always grow. Even in the hottest, driest years, you can count on an abundant crop.

chili

Hot Christmas!

This year, I tried something I’ve wanted to for a long time. I planted a chili in a pot on the front porch. It worked great to add some color and “spice.”

When fall hit, the little pepper was still going to town. I didn’t have the heart to let it freeze, so along with the geranium, inside it moved.

It’s still blooming and putting on peppers.

Considering temperatures dipped below zero last week and Sunday we got a few inches of snow, this little pepper is doing great.

Feliz Navidad!

 

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