Hard Choice #1: Combining Wheat Being short of money was nothing new for Ruth and me in 1948 when the last of our three children was born. Our first choice of course was to have food on the table, clothes on the children, gasoline in the car, and parts for the car when it broke…
My father wrote this touching love poem for my mother, Ruth Evelyn Johnston Thompson after her death May 1, 2006. Today is the fourth anniversary of her death. Once again I’m sharing his tribute. See Ric Masten’s poem for Nancy Malone. –JGR When Trails Divide by Erwin A. Thompson For Ruth, my faithful partner of…
Our latest book “Worth Remembering: The Poetry of Our Heritage,” edited by my father Erwin A. Thompson is now available on-line.
Rebecca Pincas and her family hosted a gathering at the Edwardsville Library to share the labors of several yeras of hard and dedicated work. The subject: “The early history of Melville andi ts people.” Several of the old families were represented in the audience, who later became participants in the discussion of the history that…
In our family collection of books I found an old Bible, with the inscription: “Frank Riehl, Superintendent of the Melville Sunday School.” One time my Uncle Ed Riehl and Aunt Amelia (Mim) Riehl were to play a violin duet for the church program. Aunt Mim was very shy, and not used to playing in public….
Evergreen Heights, the place founded by E. A. Riehl and our homeplace still…where he communed with nature and forged paths to become one of the 8 premiere horticulturalist in the world at that time. E. A. Riehl was a pillar of the community, though known not to suffer fools gladly. The lane which ends in…
Blog Action Day is today, with a focus on Poverty. Currently 9,394 Sites with an audience with more than 10,612,112 readers are registered in Blog Action Day 2008. Last year, I participated when bloggers focused on the Environment. Read my post on how it’s “Easy to be green at the Carelton Hotel in San Francisco.”…
The first time that a flood really affected my life was the flood of 1943. That was one of the big ones. INBETWEEN ARKANSAS & TEXAS TRAINING CAMPS IN WORLD WAR II Ruth and I were coming home from our tour of duty at Camp Robinson, Arkansas. Our unit was being moved from that location…
After Ruth and I unloaded and settled in at home, I prepared to fix the road. It was a hopeful venture. I was trying to use the trailer to haul the rock. I must have also quarried the rock. But disaster struck again. I got stuck! Down on the Upper Bottom Road. There was no…
In 1937 they closed the Alton Lock and Dam. This dam had been loudly touted as the last thing needed for flood control. I remember asking: “What are you going to do with the extra water coming down stream? Pump it out over the top?” “No, it will never happen,” was the answer. In 1973…