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A Perfect Picking Up Sticks Sort of Day

March 5, 2017 By Talya Tate Boerner

Yesterday was a such perfect day because we spent it working in the yard, and there’s nothing much better than a breezy, sunny, pre-spring day digging in the dirt. (After having been under the weather for several days, I was extra grateful to feel energetic.) John raked and bagged while I cleaned out the front beds. We have so many trees all around which means lots of sticks, especially since the Northwest Arkansas wind of late seems to blow West Texas strong.

hosta

What a fun thing, pulling away last summer’s brittle debris and seeing signs of growth, purple hosta shoots poking through the soil, feathery coreopsis spreading beneath winter’s dry blanket.

When my sister and I were kids, our job was mowing the yard each Saturday, an all afternoon affair which began with picking up sticks, then mowing circles around the trees with the push mower (a job no one liked), and then finally cutting the grass with the riding John Deere (of course) mower.Continue Reading

Farm Pics from my Farm Weekend

November 16, 2016 By Talya Tate Boerner

Sunset on Tate Farms

After five fruitful days at Hemingway-Pfeiffer, I crashed at home-home (Cottonwood Corner), as opposed to home (Fayetteville) and wrote and wrote and wrote, slept in my “own” bed, walked around the farm, and wrote some more. And I took lots of farm pics from my farm weekend.

Do you know what I mean by home-home? For me, it’s the specific place I grew up. Not everyone has the strong pull of place, as some folks moved all over the world, military families and whatnot. But the roots of my family grow in Mississippi County, Arkansas, the place, the house, the soil. That part of Arkansas always tugs me back. There’s a light for me at home, a truth, a consistency I need.

I believe that one can never leave home. I believe that one carries the shadows, the dreams, the fears and the dragons of home under one’s skin, at the extreme corners of one’s eyes and possibly in the gristle of the earlobe. Maya Angelou said that, and I agree.

I carry home with me like baggage—the good, the heavy, more than I sometimes need— and return to recharge, repack, remember.

Continue Reading

hiking Devil’s Eyebrow

October 11, 2016 By Talya Tate Boerner

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

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Hi! I'm Talya Tate Boerner. Writer, Reader, Arkansas Master Naturalist / Master Gardener, Author of

THE ACCIDENTAL SALVATION OF GRACIE LEE (2016)

GENE, EVERYWHERE: a life-changing visit from my father-in-law (2020)

BERNICE RUNS AWAY (2022)

THE THIRD ACT OF THEO GRUENE (coming 2025)

Recent Ramblings:

  • Sunday Letter: 11.23.25
  • Maggie and Miss Ladybug: My New Children’s Nature Book
  • Sunday Letter: November 9, 2025
  • Sunday Letter: Oct 26, 2025
  • Sunday Letter: Oct 5, 2025

Novels:

Coloring Books:

Fiction-Themed Coloring Books

Backyard Phenology:

Children’s Nature Book:

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