Author: Jen Madden

Long Lost Treasures, Heirloom Seeds Tom Poland Posted Aug. 11, 2021By Tom PolandA Southern Writerwww.tompoland.nettompol@earthlink.netMetal detectives seek old coins and treasure, and many folks look for arrowheads. A rare breed seeks long-lost seeds. Old coins and arrowheads won’t make you healthy but heirloom produce can.Monday, August 9, I spent the...

A Southern Writer: Mississippi’s Willie Morris Tom Poland Posted Aug. 11, 2021By Tom PolandA Southern Writerwww.tompoland.nettompol@earthlink.netSeveral years back, I attended Edgefield’s Camellia Tea. As I was leaving, a lady in a red blazer walked up. “You’re that fellow who writes about the back roads of South Carolina aren’t you?”“Guilty as...

A Haunting Postscript Missing Caskets Tom Poland Posted Aug. 3, 2021By Tom PolandA Southern Writerwww.tompoland.nettompol@earthlink.netRecently I wrote about finding my great granddad’s old farmhouse, but I left out an eerie aspect that would be suitable for a Halloween column. The last line in my previous column read, “But of this...

My Family Quest Discovering a Homeplace Tom Poland Posted Aug. 3, 2021By Tom PolandA Southern Writerwww.tompoland.nettompol@earthlink.netThe past means much. As family property goes, however, no one or anything remains from my childhood. Fires, real estate deals, and a bitter sibling feud took away every home and acre I recall as...

For The Birds Tom Poland Posted July 20, 2021By Tom PolandA Southern Writerwww.tompoland.nettompol@earthlink.netThis makes the second time I’ve used “For The Birds” as a title. “Contacting the dead through a Ouija board? That’s for the birds.”No flippancy here. “For the birds” implies just what I mean. I suspect many of...

What’s The Big Rush? Tom Poland Posted July 12, 2021By Tom PolandA Southern Writerwww.tompoland.nettompol@earthlink.netMy back-road trips of late have been good but not as pleasant they usually are. Too many people. They drive like madmen. They pass on hills. They cut me off. They force me to hit the brakes....

The Parking Lot Of The Dead Tom Poland Posted July 7, 2021By Tom PolandA Southern Writerwww.tompoland.nettompol@earthlink.netEven in death they cling to dignity. Left to rust, they bless the rare visitor with awe and mystery. Just how did old trucks and cars end up in a cemetery of sorts, “the graveyard...

Librarians Are Angels Tom Poland Posted July 7, 2021By Tom PolandA Southern Writerwww.tompoland.nettompol@earthlink.netNon-textbooks got our attention, and grammar school trips to the library always perked us up. We’d form a line and head to the library where a wonderful librarian, Miss Sarah, read to us and taught us the Dewey...

My Mother’s Bible Tom Poland Posted June 22, 2021 By Tom Poland A Southern Writer www.tompoland.net tompol@earthlink.net After Mom died, my sisters and I began to go through her and Dad’s belongings. Quite a task that surprised, amused, and puzzled us. Lots of “stuff.” Our parents grew up in the...

Ospreys — Nature Never Quits Tom Poland Posted June 14, 2021By Tom PolandA Southern Writerwww.tompoland.nettompol@earthlink.netNoon sharp, a hot, humid Monday. Just twenty yards away a tremendous crash like a rock hitting water got my attention. There sat an osprey with spread wings, its lunch too big to lift. The look...

Hemp & Kudzu, A Good Summer Combo Tom Poland Posted June 9, 2021By Tom PolandA Southern Writerwww.tompoland.nettompol@earthlink.netIt was like stepping back into the 1960s, sitting in that cool, refreshing gazebo up North Carolina way. Its vines and emerald green leaves, translucent and bright, revived memories of my Granddad Walker’s front...

Kettle Creek, A Rough Place For Tories & Loyalists Tom Poland Posted June 7, 2021By Tom PolandA Southern Writerwww.tompoland.nettompol@earthlink.netI was driving back into history. On to Washington, Georgia, I went where I hit Route 44 toward Union Point. In a matter of miles I crossed Kettle Creek. Then Stoney Ridge...

Years Lost To Time, The Silent Thief Tom Poland Posted May 28, 2021By Tom PolandA Southern Writerwww.tompoland.nettompol@earthlink.netGrowing up I could hear the tick of my church’s old Regulator wall clock. I can’t hear it today, but my hearing’s good. All that keeping of time must have silenced the Regulator’s tick...

Flee Civilization For A Preserve Tom Poland Posted May 19, 2021By Tom PolandA Southern Writerwww.tompoland.nettompol@earthlink.net  Needing adventure, I took back roads and made my way to a tract belonging to nature. It’s a place where man is a guest, Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve. It’s in McCormick County, close by Edgefield County.There’s...

History Surrounds You Tom Poland Posted May 13, 2021By Tom PolandA Southern Writerwww.tompoland.nettompol@earthlink.netHistory really does surround you. You just have to slow down a tad and open your eyes. It will help if you turn off the TV and go touring. I often write you can drive by a place...

Every State Needs A John Mulhouse Tom Poland Posted May 4, 2021By Tom PolandA Southern Writerwww.tompoland.nettompol@earthlink.netEvery state needs someone to record what it’s lost. Every state needs a John Mulhouse. I’ve never met John but we’re in touch and we share much—the beauty of abandonment, UGA grads with Augusta, Georgia,...

Compelled To Pick Up Rocks Tom Poland Posted May 3, 2021By Tom PolandA Southern Writerwww.tompoland.nettompol@earthlink.netDo you pick up rocks? I do. I feel compelled to pick up rocks. And so do others. Many people take rocks home and create a sort of geologic museum. In my office you’ll see a...

The Oldest Profession Tom Poland Posted April 23, 2021By Tom PolandA Southern Writerwww.tompoland.nettompol@earthlink.netHauling two wire cages of stacked stone, the flatbed turned right and crept uphill. Cormac McCarthy wrote that the oldest profession in the world is not prostitution. It’s stacking stones. Well, you can stack stones as they are...

Breaking The Cult of Difficulty Tom Poland Posted April 12, 2021By Tom PolandA Southern Writerwww.tompoland.nettompol@earthlink.netMany tell me how difficult they find writing to be. Well, they speak the truth. It’s difficult to write at a high level, and that’s why while watching Ken Burn’s documentary on Ernest Hemingway, a comment...

The Allure Of Copper Tom Poland Posted April 12, 2021By Tom PolandA Southern Writerwww.tompoland.nettompol@earthlink.netThe hills were red. Barren, like some alien landscape. Nothing green. Could have been Mars.I was just ten or so when Dad drove us through Copper Basin. I saw the results of copper mining that one time...

William Bartram’s Wild Azaleas Tom Poland Posted April 2, 2021By Tom PolandA Southern Writerwww.tompoland.nettompol@earthlink.netBlooms, blossoms, and bracts splash color everywhere you look this time of year. Daffodils and now dogwoods and azaleas add their voice to the spring symphony. They proclaim spring is here despite the late cold snap.In yards...

By The Light Of The Silvery Moon Tom Poland Posted March 31, 2021By Tom PolandA Southern Writerwww.tompoland.nettompol@earthlink.netSunday night the moon hung full and bright over treetops. Like some silver dollar hurled into the night she floated full and beautiful, though pollen gave it a gold cast. Tonight’s a perfect night...