Sarah Walker Gorrell, Author

It was a beautiful sunny, but cold, Christmas morning as I was driving up  Hwy 35 toward Mize. I was in no rush to get home to an empty house, except for the two furbabies that would be happy to see me and jumping for joy over the treats they knew that I would give them.  This really didn't seem like Christmas except for the tree and all the gifts that Santa had brought, at granddaughter Olivia's. I remembered Christmases past with the smell of cooking coming from the kitchen in both my house and many years before, at Granny's house. Trees and gifts and laughter flooded my mind and made me miss Christmases gone by, even more. I wasn't paying much attention as I drove along, with my memories.  I suddenly caught sight of what appeared to be a cemetery off to the side of the highway.  I drove on down the highway and found another cemetery in which to turn around. I just had to investigate! I got back to the old cemetery, now covered with dead vines. I safely parked, off...

Mike loves to go for afternoon rides and see the "country." I've been having to stay "in the area," just in case Evie Kate decides to make her appearance. I'm on the "going into labor" call in the event Sawyer and GiGi aren't "in the area." Y'all know that us "old ladies" love to be needed. (I think I was put "on the list" because I have a heavy foot.) If Olivia needed to get to Laurel in a hurry, I'm her girl!! Anyway, we decided that we'd go (for the hundredth time) to see the old Tom Sullivan house ......or is it the Wild Bill Sullivan house? (It's just the Sullivan house and it's in Sullivan's Hollow!!) If you want to read some "make your eyes go wide southern stuff" about years ago, just Google "Sullivan's Hollow in Mississippi". The first time I ever saw the old house, I was driving Douglas and Hilda Bynum back from a doctor's appointment, in Hat...

  This is a story about the "Honey Wagon." (And there's an explanation, which you'll learn at the end of the story about how it came to be called a "honey" wagon when it has absolutely nothing to do with Bees!!) You know, Mike and I have seen more interesting things while sitting at this table. Some are, "OMGosh, did you see that!" or "OMGosh, look at that ...no, Mike, not that way....look over here, NO, over this way!" (That's usually how it goes!) RVing is camping, at its best. We're like a rolling house on wheels. Heat and A/C, Cooking facilities (stove, Microwave Convection Oven, Fridge with Freezer, sink to wash dishes (no, Mike doesn't have "dishpan hands!"), lavatory to wash one's face or brush one's teeth, shower to cleanse the body and a potty for "you know what" .....those private moments. There's a tank that holds freshwater, a tank that holds gray water (from the dishes and shower),...

With Margaret (Mike's GPS voice) and the "Iowa Guide to Haunted Locations" directing us, we headed northeast out of Readlyn (that's what Mike said but it seemed, for some reason, like we were going south!) to Strawberry Point, Iowa. Y'all know, I like Cemeteries.....and Cemeteries have dead people .....and often, living people claim that they see "dead people walking" (Ghosts) in Cemeteries.......Whooooo. We had read, in our Guide Book, about Mossy Glen where people had died strange deaths, jumped off cliffs, had their heads chopped off.....and they are supposed to still be there.....walking around. In fact, if you call out "Lucinda" three times - she will appear......but....if she drops a rose at your feet, you'll die.....the next day! (I had stuff to do, the next day, so I decided against trying to see Lucinda.) There was supposed to be a man, walking around, holding his head. So much to see, so little time! I was game.......

Some people (and unfortunately I am one of them) never know what might come out of their mouth ..... until it does!! Such was the case, recently. I had driven Mike to the doctor. Since he has Shingles, in his right eye, he's unable to drive until ..... well, until he can see!  So, whether he likes to ride with me, or not ............ He can still watch television or check his phone or Facebook. You know, all those important things in one's life! Anyway, we left the doctor's office and headed to the Pharmacy in the HyVee Grocery Store. I was pleased to see that the store was following the guidelines set out by the CDC or Prez Trump or somebody! The Pharmacy had the floor marked off, with blue tape, to indicate 6-foot spaces between customers. Store employees were "masked up," although shoppers (other than me) wearing masks were few and far between - even though the store is in Waterloo, Iowa; a "hot spot" for the Covid-19 Virus. While waiting ...

This little girl was just 4 weeks old when she came to live with us, back in 2012. I often call her "Bella the Beast" because even though she's smaller she holds her ground. Bellas is forever taking her sister, Precious, bones. Precious won't try to get them back......she comes  barking to me!! Just like many "human" sisters they get into skirmishes.  I stay out of the way and let them have their "battle." Precious was three months old when she came to us.  She always loved hiding under tables and things, and she still does.  When I miss her, I just have to look under the Buffet, in the Dining Room, and there she is!! These two little noisy girls have brought much joy to this house, and I decided it was time to begin sharing their stories with others. Yesterday, "Little Bella's New Home" became available (on Amazon) as a Kindle download. It will soon be in Paperback.  I plan to follow Bella's story with a ...

Often, families can become so intertwined that we feel as if we are related. That's what happened, on Saturday. Years ago, James Bennett Nicholson (who was the son of a Methodist Minister, and who became a Methodist Minister) married my dad's sister, Alice Walker. Aunt Alice and Uncle James were like a 2nd set of parents, to me....and their children, Jimmy, Howard, and Teresa were like another set of siblings. The life of Uncle James' next to the youngest sibling, Georgia Nicholson Lane, was celebrated in a small Methodist Church in Lone Star, MS. I had the honor of being able to play the piano for Georgia's Celebration of Life. There's a hymn, "Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place".....and it was evident. There was so much love, in that small church ....where the sun was shining through the beautiful stained glass cross above the Altar. I felt as if I had also lost a member of "my" family. She was one of those women who wor...