Heartland Memories from David Lewis

Blackberry Bruin http://heartlandmemories.com/bits/CultureShock.mp3

In 1975, my wife and I moved from a small cosmopolitan city to almost-Arkansas, Missouri. In some ways it was de-evolution, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. From Greek bakeries, Jewish delis, jazz concerts, and Broadway quality theatre, we came to Myrtle’s Eats, grabbing suckers, Porter Wagoner, and drive-in movies. Being […]

A Gift in the Fog http://heartlandmemories.com/bits/BrownCounty.mp3

In the early spring of 1975, I quit my job, and my wife and I filled a Volkswagen Thing with us, camping gear, a giant Schnauzer puppy, and took to the road with no destination in mind. A few days later we found ourselves in Brown County, Indiana, a […]

http://heartlandmemories.com/bits/EataSandwich.mp3

I’m going to date myself horribly in this piece, so let me admit the disgusting truth up front: I’m old. I have worked hard to reach this age, and the exertion required to continue climbing the ladder of years gets more and more difficult as time goes by but, I suspect, it is not […]

http://heartlandmemories.com/bits/HowFarWeveCome.mp3

I remember my 10th birthday – and not only because birthdays that end in zero are milestones, but because it was one of the few times I actually went anywhere with my mother. On the evening before that auspicious day, she and her husband loaded me, Merv Fritz, and Wes Roy in their car […]

http://heartlandmemories.com/bits/Boom!.mp3

In the midst of exquisitely brutal training to become a Navy Seal, a young man was asked why he persisted in the face of such agony. His reply?

“Because I get to blow stuff up.”

Ah, the fascination with making things go “boom”. Even in my advanced years, I have still been known to […]

http://heartlandmemories.com/bits/TheOffering.mp3

Sunup was over an hour away when I crawled out of the tent onto the dew-slick grass. Stretching my back, I slowly walked to the remnants of last night’s fire and poked at it with a stick, stirring some feeble coals to the surface on which to place some kindling, needing warmth and not […]