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Sunday Letter: 05.01.22

May 1, 2022 By Talya Tate Boerner 10 Comments

sunday letter

May Day greetings! So much has happened since my last Sunday Letter, I’m not sure where to begin. I suppose I’ll just write whatever pops into my head.

First of all—I’m just gonna say it—how is it May already?? Yikes. Time is slipping away.

May is the month of flowers, right? You know, April showers bring May flowers? Based on the steady April showers we’ve been getting, I’m expecting an overabundance of blooms.

May is the month we celebrate mothers more than normal. It’s my son’s birthday month. And this May, in only a few days, he will graduate with his master’s degree.

We have lots to celebrate in our family!

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Wilson, Arkansas: How Geography Shapes a Place

March 15, 2017 By Talya Tate Boerner 31 Comments

Wilson, Arkansas: How Geography Shapes a Place—downtown square

(This post is sponsored by Designsensory, Inc. Opinions are my own.)

I’ve been thinking about how geography shapes a place. Not only the physical landscape, which often determines the direction a town grows (nestled within a valley or spread across the flat prairie), but also the way geography shapes the culture of a place. Over time, geographic location has certainly played a significant role in the culture of Wilson, Arkansas. From Mississippi River swampland to cotton empire to Delta town of the present, Wilson is distinctive in part because of the very landscape surrounding it.

Wilson, Arkansas —McFadden grave in cotton field

Consider the Music.

If a highway can affect culture, Highway 61 has certainly played a role in the small towns scattered throughout the Delta. Also known as the Great River Road, this American byway passes through downtown Wilson, paving the area in blues history. Many of our country’s greatest musicians played juke joints all throughout northeast Arkansas including a few miles north in Osceola and south to Twist.

B. B. King christened his guitar Lucille in Twist after a fight over a woman and a fire that left its mark in Delta history.

There’s no denying the Delta has long been a hotbed of passion and inspiration. My theory? The rural, pancake-flat landscape of northeast Arkansas lends itself to creativity. When one lives in a setting pulled straight from the pages of a Flannery O’Conner novel, the mind is free to wander and dream with no boundaries.

That’s a mighty far distance.

Wilson, Arkansas - Highway 61 / Great River Road
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Talya Tate Boerner


Hi! I'm Talya. 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 (Now Available!)

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Talya Tate Boerner books
Gene, Everywhere

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