Essays & Commentary
Reflective, researched, and sometimes opinionated. This category features personal essays, informational and teaching pieces, and thought-provoking explorations of life and land.
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Deeper Lessons Hidden in a Circle of Dirt
To the casual observer, a game of marbles might seem little more than a dusty schoolyard diversion—children crouched in the dirt, flicking glass spheres with oddly serious expressions. But to those who played…
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Why I Love Butter
There’s something about butter that satisfies in a way no substitute ever could. One teaspoon—just one—can tide me over for hours, softening hunger in a way that feels primal. Maybe it’s the fat…
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The Writing Process Behind The Ghosts of Shaw Mines
From a spiral notebook of memories to a fully researched manuscript, this post reveals how The Ghosts of Shaw Mines came to life—through family stories, vintage photos, historical records, and a desire to…
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How Coal Mining Transformed Somerset County, PA Forever
Before the coal boom, Somerset County was a land of apple orchards, hayfields, and dairy cows. Then came the speculators, the railroads, and the roar of mining carts. This is the story of…
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Summer Kitchen 101
In 1840s Virginia, the summer kitchen was more than a separate cooking space—it was the heartbeat of the farm. Tucked beside garden rows and shaded by walnut trees, this brick outbuilding held the…
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Smokehouse / Meat Curing House 101
Usually short walk from the barn stood the smokehouse—a log-walled, clay-chinked chamber where meat was salted, smoked, and saved one ham at a time.
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A Kitchen Full of Starlings
Christmas Family Gathering A Christmas family gathering in a large household is something between a celebration and a carefully managed storm. Every year, Christmas dinner at my grandparents’ house in Rixeyville, Virginia brought…
