Heartland Memories from David Lewis

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

As of this writing, it is May of 2010. There was a celebration at my house this morning. Last night was very stormy – heavy rain, excessive lightning, brutal winds – the temporary finale of several days of harsh weather that produced tornados in Oklahoma and Kansas, hail up to baseball size here […]

The Taurus and the Bull http://heartlandmemories.com/bits/Baby.mp3

Leslie Hallcraft smiled at me as he reached over the top rail of a board fence and scratched the back of an immense Charolais bull.

“This is Baby,” he beamed. “He’s just as sweet as he can be…yes, he is!”

Les was my landlord. In the outback of the […]

Passing the Torch http://heartlandmemories.com/bits/LevisLegacy.mp3

[Editor’s note: This piece was not originally produced for this web site. As such, the format (music, style, etc.) differs from the other posts here.]

Roger and Sharon Sigler have lived in a rural portion of the Kansas City area for nearly three decades, and, for many of those years, their […]

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

In the mid through late 70s, I lived in almost Arkansas, Missouri – an area that is steeped in tradition, clannishness, and ticks. Outsiders are viewed there with a significant amount of suspicion, and not a small amount of predation. Unless you were born in almost Arkansas, of parents from almost Arkansas, you would […]

When Will It End? http://heartlandmemories.com/bits/Age.mp3

I’m getting old. I know that I’m getting old – that’s no big secret – but I was reminded of that ugly fact recently when I realized that I need a computer monitor slightly larger than a picture window. The one I have just isn’t big enough anymore – or […]

Down and Dirty http://heartlandmemories.com/bits/AugustAfternoon.mp3

It was hot, heavy, and humid at about three o’clock on that August afternoon. The air was totally calm, the sky slightly hazy, and I crouched in the dust, sweat rolling in muddy trickles down the back of my neck, a mask held tightly to my face by straps over and […]

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 […]

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/DoortoDoor.mp3

I stopped by to visit the young woman I was dating and found her sitting on the couch with a dejected look on her face. She was just 20, fresh out of Medical Secretary School, and had moved to the city to take a job at a local doctor’s clinic. She looked at me […]