Category: Non-fiction

Farming and Unintended Consequences

March 10, 2026 | Non-fiction, Other Things | Comments
Farming teaches one about unintended consequences, but not painlessly. For example, the unintended consequences of importing hay from far away in a drought year. In the early 1950s we had some bad drought summers in Appalachian Virginia. They left us short of home-grown hay. So we bought hay from Ohio , shipped in by train and tractor-trailer truck. Read more

Dollars and Sense

October 27, 2025 | Non-fiction, Remembrances | Comments
Reflections on the Cost and Value of Education I entered college 70 years ago at age 16. It was at Hampden-Sydney College. Room, board, tuition and laundry combined were $1,000. I had it only because of a bequest from a childless aunt. I traveled to and from campus by thumb. Home was on a farm in Montgomery County, Virginia. Read more

The Great Field Trial Dog Snatch Caper

September 17, 2024 | Non-fiction | Comments
This is a field trial story worthy of Sherlock Holmes, or Laurel and Hardy, but that could have been tragic. It’s the story of the theft of a handler’s entire string of entries at a field trial held at Amelia, Virginia in the early 1980s, a time of strong competition among accomplished east coast pro and amateur handlers... Read more

My Father, the Farm, our Draft Mares and the Tractor

August 22, 2021 | Non-fiction, Remembrances | Comments
My father died of car crash injuries when I was fifteen in 1954. Now I am eighty-three. Despite our few shared years, he remains the person most influential in my life. I think of him often, and with gratitude, and wonder at how he inspired me. My father, born in 1897, lived through repeating hard times. Born and reared the son of a livestock dealer-farmer who conducted business largely on horseback through my father’s youth when he apprenticed, my father was drafted for Army service in World War One and completed Officer Candidate School at Camp Zackary Taylor in Kentucky just in time for the Armistice. Read more