grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

Dear January,

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Dear January,

Dear January,

After the explosion of holiday glitter and year-end festivities, you provide a place of calm and quiet. We humans love to mark everything in stretches of time, and for those of us fortunate enough to see another new year, January provides a fresh start.  A new year. A chance to do things better during the next trip around the sun. I hope to build on the positive and leave behind the negative.

Painted in silver and white and shades of winter, January, I welcome the honesty you bring, your landscape real and raw. Continue Reading

The Face of Homelessness.

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The Face of Homelessness.

The man in the picture above? He is the face of homelessness. And I know him. But before I get ahead of myself, let me explain. During the month of December, my Northwest Arkansas Blogger group (NWARKcares) is focusing on the issue of homelessness. The goal of our group is to bring awareness to a different cause each month. September was literacy. Literacy was easy for me. I love books and reading and have my own Little Free Library in the front yard. October and November? I didn’t do so well pushing the topics of domestic violence and women in politics/leadership roles. No particular reason, they are both worthy, important topics, I was busy with other things. Excuses, excuses. And now December is homelessness. What better time than the holiday season to talk about the homeless? December is the time when people gather in their homes with family and friends. The weather outside is frightful and shelter is needed more than ever.

Homelessness makes me uncomfortable, sad, angry. The idea that in our country, a country of luxury, excess, and wastefulness, people are without basic necessities. Seriously, I can’t stand the thought of a homeless animal. The sweet cat that keeps showing up on my porch? I’m one bowl of cat food away from adopting him.Continue Reading

Words Matter.

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words matter

During the past year, I’ve been focusing on words. Individual words. Sentences. Every letter in every word. Words matter when I’m writing a book and hoping to convey a specific mood or thought. Words matter in day-to-day life too. Ours is such a decadent society, doing and saying whatever benefits us in the moment. We demand “transparency” yet use words to disguise and confuse.

It’s called politics.

Remember the saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me?”

Hold your horses (another good saying). In time, most bones heal. The sting of words can slice through the toughest armor and stay with us, sometimes forever.

Harmful words affect generations of people.Continue Reading

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

THANKS FOR READING!