Christmas activities culminate fun holiday season...

Christmas activities culminate fun holiday season - KPCNews: Kpcnews

Here is the link to this week's column. As always, thank you for reading. I love writing stories for you!

Finding the perfect Christmas tree.

Finding the perfect Christmas tree can always be time consuming. My family and I usually go to Booth's Christmas tree farm and cut down our own trees. However with the trip to Arizona we changed schedules. So Kathy Vaugn and I set out to find our own perfect Christmas trees. We knew we did not want to cut them down ourselves so we hunted all over town.

We finally found our trees at Gary Stroh's apple farm. Gary was right there holding the trees up and helping us find the best one for us. When we did find the best trees, he cut off the bottoms and loaded them into the truck. We felt like pioneer women driving around town with our trees in the truck.

Getting them out of the truck and into the house was a totally different scene. However mine is up and decorated, and it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas in my Small Town.

Lou Ann

Thanksgiving takes us to a sunny locale...

Thanksgiving takes us to a sunny locale - KPCNews: Kpcnews

Just a few hours and my family and I are in Arizona to spend Thanksgiving with Abe and Kristin. Although our Thanksgivings usually last seven days and this one is no different. Enjoy another adventure through my weekly column above.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving as well.

Lou Ann

Happy Thanksgiving from the Homan Family!

Happy Thanksgiving from the Homan Family. This year we are celebrating in Arizona with all the family members flying in. Everything is a new adventure for us.

As we were cooking this afternoon I felt a bit of my actress side coming out. Thanks to Karen and Kristin for putting up with their mother-in-law!

The video is short, but it will give you a laugh as you keep the fires burning.

Bon Appetit!

Haiku for November 22nd.

bold stormy headlines

steel rain falls from pewter skies

on this day we weep

Happy Birthday Norbert Krapf

An interview with Norbert Krapf

Today is the birthday of one of my favorite Indiana poets, Norbert Krapf. I met Mr. Krapf at a book signing several years ago when he was the Poet Laureate for Indiana (2008-2010).

He is Emeritus Professor of English at Long Island University and is the author of 24 books. One of my favorites is "Songs in Sepia and Black & White."

In the above book Mr. Krapf reunites poetry with music and photography. Fifteen of the poems are dedicated to musicians such as Bob Dylan, Woody and Arlo Guthrie, John Lennon and Leadbelly.

I shared the above video with my composition classes today. They enjoyed the rhythm of the poems and the interview as well.

You may order books through Indiana University Press.

Happy Birthday!

First snow of winter...

First snow of winter...

The first snow of winter covered the land in northern Indiana last night. It was a beautiful evening with snowflakes the size of silver dollars. No one expected it would stick as the ground is still warm from the summer's sun, but it did!

I often post this view of my garden. I like the changes from early spring rains to the deepest blooms of summer to the first snow. 

The changing of the seasons allow us to think and contemplate the changes within our own lives. Winter brings us time to be quiet and listen.

Veteran's Day

I am on campus early this morning when a young man in uniform walks towards me. We are about to pass when I stop him. He is in the Air Force. He is young. He is proud. He is strong. I can barely speak, "Thank you," I say, and then I repeat it. He nods and we both move on.

For my grandfather, uncles, brother...those who came before and those who will come after, I speak the same words, "Thank you."

"Hunting with my Dad"

This was photo was taken in 1945 of my Dad and his brothers.
From left to right: Richard (my Dad), Keith, Jim and Jerry.

Today is my dad's birthday. He would have been 84. This is a photo, as you can see, from 1945.

My dad left behind stories and books and poems that I now treasure in my studio. The other day one of his poems slipped out of a folder, "Hunting with my Dad." 

This past week Jonah brought home his first deer to the family table. I wove the hunting poem with stories of family traditions of hunting. I hope you enjoy the column. It was a labor of love.

Please click here for the story. 

http://www.kpcnews.com/columnists/lou_ann_homan-saylor/kpcnews/article_d7e1b218-dc41-55b5-99c0-0c0b3699c460.html

Autumn's Light Through My Window...

With most of the leaves gone from the bushes and trees around my house, there is now space for the light of the sun to shine through. These prisms decorate all my downstairs windows and when the light is perfect, I take a wooden spoon and give a little tap on each prism. The walls of my house begin to dance as rainbows beams of life cast of the colors.

Sometimes I wonder if this could be true of writers. Are you not trapped among bushes and trees which causes delay in writing? Could these bushes or trees be physical or emotional? Could they be a part in modern living with cell phones and Facebook calling us? 

Just some thoughts for a cold, but sunny Saturday.

Who tells the last leaf to fall?

My maple tree this morning after our first snow.


Today's Haiku from my Scrapbook

one last leaf to fall
autumn's death waits patiently
good-bye October

Old farms and ramblings...

Old Windy Hill Farm

The other day I was out rambling a bit in the car. It was an errand day and I found myself meandering out by my old farm. This is the farm I speak of in yesterday's Life Stories project.

I had my camera with me and took just one photo. Truly the beauty of the Indiana landscape is evident in this single shot.

November comes with the hint of color falling behind and the starkness of late Autumn and Winter approaching. This photo makes me think of falling hickory nuts, putting fields to rest, bringing in the last of the potatoes, onions, and winter squashes. These were all neatly placed in the root cellar. 

Wherever we travel the beauty of the land is what takes our breath away...wherever we travel.

Life Stories

Dear Friends,

I read with interest Philip Howard's blog of two days past on the new state project of interviewing and collecting stories in North Carolina. 

This is not a controversial issue. This is important to gather our stories for preservation of our lives; who we are, how we live, and what we leave behind. 

In Indiana there is a similar project called Life Stories. It is a collaboration between the Indiana Historical Society, WFYI, and Storytelling Arts of Indiana.

I was fortunate enough to share my story in August while performing at the Fringe. Ellen Munds invited me to tell my story, anything I want to say!

I had an hour to speak. No problem for me!

At the appointed time I arrived. I have to say I was a little nervous, although I knew what I wanted to talk about without rambling. I decided to share my farm stories when my children were young.

The ladies were trained and were volunteers. They offered me water and told me how the interview would proceed. The microphone was on the table. They were also prepared with questions in case I (or whoever else would be telling) were at a loss of words or stories. They also told me they would take a couple of photos while I worked.

I began. I did not stop or falter. Of course, for me, I love talking. I make my living by talking! The women were interested, nodding me on, laughing or smiling or sharing other emotions as they emerged in the story.

This project is not for storytellers. It is for everyone. I am fortunate enough to have been asked to tell my stories. As you can imagine the hour flew by.

Eventually I will receive the recording which I will share with my children. In the meantime Ken Oguss, friend and videographer, works with the project by editing stories and pulling out small clips. My clip was just finished, and I love it.

I am adding it to the end, please take the time to see and listen to it. No, it is not about fishermen or oysters, but it is about a lovely Indiana farm.

I thought this was a good time to respond to the blog I referred to by giving my experience. Everyone should tell their story!

As always, thank you for reading and listening.

Lou Ann


http://lifestoriesproject.net/homan-lou-ann/