New Beginnings

Something New Is on the Way

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An invitation, quietly extended.

Over the past several weeks, I have mentioned a new project taking shape just over the hill — something written carefully, assembled slowly, and meant to be read at ease.

With the first issue now nearly ready to be set before you, it felt right to let the editor speak for herself.

🖋 A Note from Clara Thimblewick, Editor

For some time now, a small staff has been at work — gathering items of interest, setting type, sharing a pot of coffee, and preparing a paper meant to be read slowly and kept close at hand.

We have taken care to make it worthy of your time.

The Hearth & Holler Gazette was created for readers who still find pleasure in neighborly news, in small observations, and in stories that do not hurry you along.

It is not meant to be exhaustive.
It is not meant to be loud.
It is meant to feel familiar.

If you care to join us, we would be glad to have you.

The first issue will be set before you this Saturday.

— Clara Thimblewick, Editor

Before we close, one small thing for clarity.

The Hearth & Holler Gazette is a make-believe newspaper from a make-believe place in Little Red Bear’s Honey Hill Country, staffed by characters who do not exist anywhere outside these pages.

The things they practice, however, most certainly do.

Kindness.
Compassion.
Looking out for one another.
Stopping long enough to notice.

Those are as real as it gets — and what it is all about.

If this sounds like something you might enjoy, the first issue will be waiting for you this Saturday.

We hope you will join us.

— Jim  (and Red!)

A small note for new readers:
Receiving The Hearth & Holler Gazette is as simple as being registered for this blog. There is nothing more to do.

While the Year Is Still New

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Easing out of December and taking the new year one unhurried day at a time

While the year is still new, there is a softness to the days that does not last long. The holidays have packed themselves away, and the calendar has turned without yet asking much of us. Mornings arrive more gently. Even the house seems to move at a slower pace, as though it, too, is willing to linger a moment before the year begins in earnest.

Porches are swept clean. Decorations are carefully taken down and set aside. The lights that remain are fewer, but somehow warmer for it. Routines return slowly — politely — without knocking too loudly. Most of the calendar is still blank, and there is comfort in that. Room to move. Room to breathe.

By the time January reaches its first full week, the talk of New Year’s resolutions has begun to hum a little louder. Lists are made. Promises are weighed. Some folks feel the pull to hurry — to decide everything at once, or to prove something before the year has truly had time to arrive.

But there is no bell to beat here.

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Happy June! Happy Summer! A New Month and Another New Beginning! We’re Back and Going – Again!

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Happy June and Happy Summer, y’all —

Here in the Midwest, on the outskirts of St. Louis, Missouri, June is the “Early Introduction to Summer” month. This is when all of the new summer activities are still exciting and fun before the inevitable heat and humidity of August wear you down. But we won’t go on about that stuff yet.

Right now, it is an exciting time, with June unquestionably the month of baby deer.

Birds begin to raise their young; baby squirrels and bunnies venture out of nests for the first time; there are summer barbeques, trips to the beach, water balloons, toasting marshmallows over a campfire, charging down the backyard slippy slide, visits to the park, and so much more.

But now, changing the topic to address the obvious for those who follow along here regularly— it has been a minute, as they say. Once again, I have been a few months away from writing following yet another extensive spinal surgery, for which I sincerely apologize to faithful followers. This surgery was extensive, from top to bottom, with the resultant recovery and rehab a much longer and slower hill to climb back up to get going again.

But more about that in a minute.  We have a lot of catching up to do.

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