Columns

Everyone has a story to tell. Not just famous folks or those who’ve lived through grand adventures — every one of us carries a lifetime of moments, lessons, and memories worth sharing. The problem is, we often think our own stories are too ordinary to matter. But I’ve learned that it’s often the small, everyday details that become the most treasured over time.

Think back to the tales your grandparents told — maybe about walking to school, courting, or the way holidays used to be celebrated. Those stories probably didn’t involve world-changing events, but they stuck with you because they painted a picture of a life you could see and feel. In the same way, your own life holds details your children, grandchildren, or even strangers might one day cherish.

Arlington Cemetery has been in the news for the past few months without many of us knowing the tremendous history involved. As Paul Harvey said, “Here’s the rest of the story.”

George Washington’s adopted son — his wife Martha’s only son — bought the land know as Arlington in 1778 to be closer to his mother at their beloved Mount Vernon home. General Washington advised him on the purchase in correspondence from his winter camp at Valley Forge. However, three years later her son contracted fever at Yorktown and died leaving a six-month-old son. George and Martha raised the six month of boy whose name was George Washington Parke-Custis and nicknamed “Wash”. Wash became of age and inherited the Arlington land his real father had purchased but his lifelong mission became to honor his adopted father.

Caddo has always cast an integral influence on DeSoto Parish from 1843 starting when the northern half of DeSoto was taken from Caddo. Many important families of DeSoto have migrated and become important citizens of Shreveport. But nothing is more important to the economy than the movement of oil drilling southward after the first oil and gas wells were drilled in 1870 on Cross Bayou intended to be a water well for an ice factory. The first oil well known to have been drilled was by Edwin Drake in 1859 near Titusville, Pennsylvania.

We worry about a lot of things, how things will turn out, are we going to have enough at the end of the day or week? Are we going to make it? Is God going to be with us? It looks like we are about to lose everything!

“All Judah stood with their little ones, their wives before the Lord,” praying and worrying how they were going to do against a great enemy that came against them in 2 Chronicles 20. The forces of Moab, Ammon, and Mt. Seir came upon them to battle.

Let’s get shakin!!!

If you are from the south, you already know, if not, I’m ‘bout to tell you all about it.

Growing up you could open the fridge and there would be 4–5 plastic butter tubs. Did we like butter? Well yeah, who doesn’t BUT, you better open them all ‘cause you never know what you might find inside. That’s right with no shame at all, they were washed and repurposed.

It’s free Tupperware y’all. Now as a spoiled rotten kid this embarrassed me to no end. I thought it meant we were poor. Well, we weren’t but we were hardly affluent. Mom always said red (or tomato based) sauce like spaghetti, chili, sauce picante, etc. would stain her good Tupperware so leftovers went in the “southern” Tupperware. As an adult I’ve realized… she was right and NO she wasn’t just trying to embarrass me.

De S o to Parish has had a long and happy relationship with its sister parish to the south, Sabine Parish. DeSoto has shared citizens, politics and even land with Sabine. Sabine Parish was organized in 1843 only a couple of months before DeSoto. Actually DeSoto’s southern border was originally a creek but a short time later a land swap between the two parishes created a straight line that followed a state section line.

La. Rouge Rice

I was all ready to make fun of an article in Southern Living by Jessica Harris titled “The Roots of Red Rice”. I’ve know about Charleston and Savannah Red Rice but had never cooked any and Mrs. Harris’ article sounded like a lot of Mumbo-Jumbo about a West African dish called Thieboudienne — What?! Yeah, I’d never heard of it either.

The early settlers of this area were a very hardy group — primarily those from the Carolinas and Georgia with exceptions of the St. Denis group along the Bayou Pierre composed of Spanish and French. Today’s article is going to discuss the Anglo-Saxon Group, which settled the northern half of the parish.

The first settlers came to the area primarily by covered wagons with the cows tied behind the wagons and the boys driving the hogs behind the cows. Normally it would be thought that driving hogs would be impossible but history tells us that hogs soon learned to follow behind the wagons and cows without trouble. Sometimes, however, it was necessary for the older boys to go back behind in the event of the pigs getting tired and wanting to wallow around in a mud hole.

The Guitarist No One Heard (But We Did)

Big cities have their perks — bright lights, endless options, and the kind of convenience that makes your head spin. But they also have a way of making people numb to wonder. When everything’s available all the time, it’s easy to stop noticing the magic tucked into the ordinary.

John and I had a layover in Dallas recently. Just one night before flying out the next day. We found a restaurant near the hotel, nothing fancy, just a cozy spot with good food and a warm atmosphere. And there, in the corner, was a man with a guitar. An acoustic set. Live music. On a Tuesday night.

He played with heart. You could tell he loved what he was doing. His fingers moved like they knew the strings by memory, and his voice had that soft, worn-in quality that only comes from years of singing to strangers. And yet — no one seemed to notice.

Making your own baking and cooking mixes might sound like something only your grandmother did, but it’s easier than you think — and worth every minute. It’s one of those old-fashioned skills that fits right into a modern life that values health, savings, and a little peace of mind.

From pancake mix to taco seasoning, soup bases to cornbread mix, these staples are quick to put together and save both time and money in the long run. Instead of reaching for a prepackaged product full of additives, you can scoop out a bit of your homemade mix and know exactly what’s in it. Most mixes only take five or six basic ingredients — flour, baking powder, salt, maybe a little sugar or spice — and they store well in jars, bags, or plastic containers right in your pantry.