Stories & Memoir
Personal reflections, humorous family tales, and nostalgic vignettes that celebrate the messy, magical, and meaningful corners of everyday life. Whether true, embellished or fictional, these stories capture the spirit of Enchanted Green Acres through memory, wit, and observation.
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The Driveway Cure for a Cold
Many people once believed you could sweat out a cold using heat, layers of clothing, and a little something stronger. This old home remedy was common in rural communities, where illness was often…
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The Crow’s Nest Walkabout
This story was passed down by my father, who had no problem in relating humorous tales about himself. In the mid-1930s, most residents of Shaw Mines did not own automobiles. My father was…
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How Enchanted Green Acres Came to Be
For nearly two decades now, Hiddencroft Vineyards has been more than a place to taste wine. Since opening our tasting room in 2008 on this old Virginia farmstead, it has also been a…
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A Deeper Dive into The Ghosts of Shaw Mines
The Ghosts of Shaw Mines is more than the story of one coal town. It’s a vivid journey through a slice of American history, told in three richly woven layers. The book’s visual…
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One Sister’s Journey
In this Shaw Mines au pair story, Verna leaves her coal camp home in the late 1940s to work for prominent families in Meyersdale and Pittsburgh. Her journey from small-town babysitter to big-city…
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The Shaw Mines Au Pairs
A Sequel Chapter to “The Ghosts of Shaw Mines” Long before the word au pair was fashionable, and long before families sought “nannies with culture” from overseas, the girls of Shaw Mines were…
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When Butter Tastes Like Onions
How a Cow’s Diet Affects Butter Flavor My uncles enjoyed working on their grandparents’ farm during the summers. Chiefly because nothing thrilled them more than dinnertime. One of them used to tell the…
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Why I Wrote The Ghosts of Shaw Mines
What began as a few childhood stories—memories of playing in the eerie ruins of a vanished coal town—soon became something much bigger. As I started to write about growing up in Shaw Mines,…
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Marbles were for Keeps: A 1950’s Recess Ritual at S.J. Miller Elementary
In the schoolyard of S.J. Miller Elementary during the 1950s, marbles weren’t just for fun—they were for keeps. While the girls skipped rope nearby, the boys crouched in the dirt, fiercely protective of…
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The Day Grandma Became a Flyboy
In the 1980s, three generations of my family piled into the car for a day at the Flying Circus Airshow in Bealeton, Virginia. What started with popcorn, biplanes, and a WWII pilot turned…
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Peaches and Pressure
Something in Common When you marry, you hope you share a few important things with your spouse: values, goals, a love of Italian food, and maybe a favorite movie or two. Sometimes the…
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Hog Days Explosion
I was visiting my grandparents one weekend many years ago. My grandfather asked if I wanted to take a walk and see the place where he was born. I was amazed to learn…
