“Do you think this might be it?” I asked my husband, Jim, as we drove down Road M. We were in search of the remnants of Columbia, a ghost town documented in Daniel C. Fitzgerald’s Ghost Towns of Kansas: 6. Other than the wooded area along the Cottonwood River, which we were about to cross, [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Just Write’
17 Oct
St. Patrick’s Church: How the Emerald Isle ended up in the middle of the nation’s most landlocked state
Three days each week, our travels take us down Old U.S. Highway 50 past a sign. “St. Patrick’s Church. Emerald Parish. 6 1/2 miles south.” After passing by at least a dozen times, my husband and I gave in to the urge to follow it and turned south. “Has it been six and a half [...]
15 Sep
Lessons from a Kansas graveyard: What a 1903 outbreak of diphtheria can teach us today
In a shady corner of St. Mary’s Cemetery, a curious collection of little headstones, all of the same size and age, surround a large hooded monument. Unassuming and unadorned, the large family headstone does not prepare you for what you will read. This little cemetery just south of Hartford, Kansas is the final resting place [...]
10 Jun
How I developed a healthy fear of giant mutant chiggers
I. Can’t. Stop. Thinking about it. Every time I almost push it out of my mind, that tiny pin prick of an insect bite begins to pulse, the itch radiating away from the center, until all I can think about it scrubbing it with my fingernails for ten measly seconds of relief. I. Hate. Chiggers. [...]
31 May
Flowers for my mother
My mother’s birthday is just a few days away. The date, June 9, doesn’t always click for me. Even though I am really good with dates, I sometimes forget to associate June 9 with a woman who passed away a little over six years ago. I’ve even forgotten about Mother’s Day in recent years. My [...]
