Columnist John Moore speaks Southern. He learned it in his grandfather's blacksmith shop. Photo John Moore Southern folks don’t need proper nouns. We have whatchamacallits and thingamajigs. My grandfather had the only blacksmith shop in Ashdown, Arkansas. That’s where...
Columnist John Moore grew up with just about everything coming from the Sears catalog. You can buy reprints of the old catalogs, such as the one pictured, which is available on Amazon. Courtesy John Moore For much of the twentieth century, the Sears Roebuck catalog...
Columnist John Moore's mother turned off her landline and the phone number he grew up with is now gone. He's taking it harder than he expected. Courtesy John Moore My mom turned off her landline. For 50 years, my parents had the same number. 898-2446. Now, it’s gone....
Columnist John Moore's mother sent him one place often when he was a child. Outside. Courtesy John Moore Red Rover. Sandlot baseball. Hide-and-seek. Cowboys and Indians. The latter today is likely lacking political correctness, but it shares with the others a...
Columnist John Moore looks forward to Thanksgiving specifically because of the thanks. Courtesy John Moore Thanksgiving, at its heart, was created for one purpose. To thank God for His blessings. The Pilgrims knew hardship well. They had survived disease, starvation,...
Columnist John Moore has always loved cabooses. He painted this on canvas when he was around 11-years-old. Courtesy John Moore My sister and I always looked for the caboose. That unmistakable red car at the rear of the train that held the men who always waved to us....
Columnist John Moore has collected pennies all of his life. Including this 1934 Lincoln wheat penny. He’ll miss the penny when it’s gone. Courtesy John Moore There’s a scene in The Grapes of Wrath when two children ask for candy in a store and it costs more than the...
Columnist John Moore has two people to tell him how to drive: his wife and Siri. Courtesy John Moore I firmly believe GPS was invented to save marriages. Before that, wives had to drive from the passenger seat. I grew up in Ashdown, Arkansas, long before Siri started...
Columnist John Moore likes the fall season the best. The temperature cools and the costumes come out. Courtesy John Moore One of my most vivid memories of fall happened during junior high. I was standing in the end zone prior to the start of a football game. I could...
