grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

hiking Devil’s Eyebrow

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hiking devil's eyebrow

Devil’s Eyebrow, near Eureka Springs, is a natural area consisting of stream beds, ravines, and old logging roads. Until 2012, it was privately owned land. Now, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) and the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission (ANHC) co-own and manage this gorgeous spot in the Ozarks. Before I go any further let me emphasize—a natural area is a specific designation given to areas where steps are being taken to protect, preserve and sometimes restore the ecosystems as they existed before Arkansas settlement. Very cool.

Last week I hiked the area with a group of University of Arkansas Olli folks. With the glorious weather and turning leaves, I should have been embracing fall, but for whatever reason I was still clinging to summer—maybe because it flew by in such a blur I have to squint to remember it. And I was feeling a bit let down that I didn’t accomplish everything I meant to accomplish.

That’s my coulda, shoulda, woulda reality.

Do we ever get it all done?

This hike turned out to be good for my soul. I was reminded of the importance of taking a break. Channeling your inner kid is a good thing.Continue Reading

garden music all around

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Garden Music!Yesterday an hour before sunset, Lucy, Annabelle and I went for an afternoon walk. The dreamy light provided a natural picture-taking filter, like garden music I could almost hear and definitely see. The Headquarters House is only one block from our house. Filled with old-fashioned flowers and green space, we pretend it’s our own park and ignore the thick, humid air this time of year.

It’s hard to believe a place filled with such peace and beauty was the site of the Battle of Fayetteville. The Headquarters House served as base for both Union and Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. Continue Reading

I’m writing in the woods

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Writing in the woodsFive years ago if someone asked me where I’d be today, I don’t know what I would have said. But I wouldn’t have said writing in the woods. The Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow might have been my answer if I played a game of eenie-meenie-miney-moe with multiple choice answers. In my mind, any place with “colony” attached to it was highly sketchy. A colony involved hippie living, pot growing, and Kum Ba Yah singing.

Or lepers.

Lepers lived in colonies, didn’t they?Continue Reading

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

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