Stories
1928 Hurricane Devastation as told in ‘A Land Remembered’
A lot of news has been focused on hurricanes lately, and it certainly has caught my attention. As of August 2023, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center on Thursday upgraded the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season forecast to an above-normal level of activity. For people living in Florida, this is not good news. Hurricanes are nothing new to […]
Why You Should Read A Land Remembered
Patrick D. Smith’s iconic novel, “A Land Remembered,” paints a vivid portrait of the MacIvey family’s journey through the wild landscapes of Florida. A narrative spanning three generations, from 1858 – 1968, the book invites us to reflect on the enduring connection between modern-day descendants and the land that shaped their ancestors’ destinies. A Land […]
What it was Like for Florida Settlers in 1860
In Patrick Smith’s novel, A Land Remembered, settlers come to Florida in 1858. Let’s take a look at what they endured: Life for settlers in Florida in 1860 was marked by numerous challenges, including oppressive heat, rampant mosquito populations, limited access to fresh water, and a lack of reliable bathing facilities. Did they stink? Yeah, […]
Life In Florida Now And Back Then
Sometimes we forget how good we have it. At least, I do. If you have read books like A Land Remembered, you realize how hard life was for the early settlers. It’s romantic to think you’d like to live in that rugged time, but to them, it wasn’t romantic. It was just hard. Let’s take […]
A Christmas Story For You
Christmas Nostalgia I get nostalgic at this time of year and always love a good Christmas story. I was a child in the 1950s, back when there were no artificial Christmas trees, just Mississippi pines that we often cut ourselves. They dropped leaves everywhere. Christmas seemed magical. We didn’t have the distraction of cell phones, […]