Our mothers grew up in the Depression and married shortly after WWII. Both were masters at making something pretty, nutritious, or unique out of leftovers. Roger’s mom could take food leftovers, make those into soup, serve it with cornbread, and satisfy a hungry youth baseball team. Sue’s mom could take scraps of fabric and mismatched buttons and turn them into one-of-a-kind attractive blouses for herself and her two daughters. Our mothers rarely threw anything away; instead, they squinted up their eyes and said quietly, “What could I make with this?”

Tending God’s lovely creation

Our little corner of the world has a rich history in the railroad industry and most of the towns around here at one time had a train station or depot. Even today, the trains run through some of our towns (Don’t get me started on that crossing in Maud) and you can still hear the familiar whistle of the engine as they roll through. I find myself thinking sometimes that those days might have been better days, but usually I wake up from my pondering to realize that life may have seemed simpler back then, but it was also hard. We get spoiled I think nowadays and we take for granted the modern things of life like cell phones, 475 television channels, around the clock and around the globe news coverage, and the marvels of modern medicine.