I write southern historical fiction, local history, and I've written a devotional book. The two novels I'm writing are set in Virginia and the Carolinas in the 1760s. My weekly blog started out to follow my journey as a writer and a reader, but in 2025 it has been greatly expanded to include current events and politics in the United States as I see our democracy under attack from within. The political science major in me cannot sit idly by and remain silent.
I write this on the evening of April 7, 2026, as the President of the United States becomes more unhinged by the minute. He clearly places no value on human life.
Once again, at the proverbial eleventh hour, he snatched us back from the brink of a “civilization ending” attack on Iran.
Was that his plan all along?
Did he have a plan?
We’ll never know the truth of the matter.
When the President of the United States of America delights in jerking the world around like it’s his plaything….
When the President of the United States of America makes rash promises and outrageous threats on a daily basis….
When the President of the United States of America is undeterred, the entire world is at risk.
When the President of the United States is undeterred when told that something he wants to do is a war crime….
When the President of the United States is undeterred when told that something he wants to do is against international law….
When the President of the United States says he is not concerned about international law….
When the President of the United States surrounds himself with advisors who either agree with him or lack the moral courage, a love of our democracy, or the rule of law enough to advise against his unhinged wishes….
When the President of the United States promises to destroy the oldest civilization on Earth….
When the President of the United States, in his ignorance, uses profane language to threaten another country, he is playing right into their hands….
When the President of the United States is so ignorant of history and religion that he thinks by using vulgar threats against the regime in power in another country he will stop them from chanting, “Death to America”….
When the President of the United States bizarrely says, “Praise be to Allah” on social media on Easter Sunday….
When the President of the United States is nothing but a spoiled brat bully….
When the President of the United States changes his mind on a whim….
When the President of the United States has no moral compass….
This is where we are tonight: A two-week cease fire.
Perhaps two weeks in which we can take a deep breath and brace ourselves for whatever is to follow.
The two sides in this war are not in agreement on numerous points. They aren’t likely to be in agreement two weeks from now.
Both sides have already declared victory, which would be laughable if the future of the world did not hang in the balance.
Janet
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
My blog post from yesterday grew to be too long, so I divided it into two parts. Before reading today’s post, it would be useful for you to read yesterday’s to put today’s post into context: Is The United States of America a Christian Nation? – Part 1.
As I stated yesterday, Christian Nationalists love to say that the United States was founded as a Christian nation, but you will not find the words “Christian” or “Jesus” in the Declaration of Independence or the U.S. Constitution.
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits the United States from making any “law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
Americans, under our Constitution, are free to practice any religion they choose. They are free to practice no religion whatsoever. That is one of the bedrocks and beauties of the United States of America.
That is why I find the likes of U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth so dangerous. As I noted in yesterday’s blog post, he sees our current war in Iran as a holy war. But the United States of America does not fight holy wars. The day we start down that road will be the beginning of our demise.
One only needs to look at the history of Europe to see how differing interpretations of Christianity in government can create great conflict. When one monarchy favors Roman Catholicism to the detriment of Protestantism… or a monarchy favors Protestantism to the detriment of Roman Catholicism we see oppression and wars.
My Presbyterian ancestors experienced that struggle in Scotland and it, no doubt, influenced them to come to America in the mid-1700s. My ancestors on the Kintyre Peninsula of Scotland had to worship in secret in the 1600s in gatherings called conventicle because the monarchy favored Roman Catholicism at the time.
(One of the historical short stories in my book, Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories is about the Covenanters in Scotland and how they were punished for not espousing the Roman Catholic traditions.)
In Colonial America, religious freedom and religious overreach were issues. As noted in my Author’s Notes after “You Couldn’t Help But Like Bob” story in my short story book, fines ordered by the courts in Colonial Virginia were often to be paid to the Church of England or the Anglican Church.
There was no separation of church and state in Colonial America. In Colonial North Carolina, the Episcopal church held sway over the government. It was illegal in North Carolina for a Presbyterian minister to officiate over a marriage. Marriages conducted by Presbyterian ministers were not recognized by the Royal Government. My Presbyterian colonial North Carolina ancestors were on the wrong side of the law.
It is almost impossible for 21st century Americans to comprehend how life was in colonial times. That is why it makes it so easy for Christians in 21st century America to call for the Ten Commandments to be posted on public school classroom walls and courtroom walls. They do not grasp the danger – the slippery slope – such actions can lead to.
In their hearts and minds, they think they are doing a good thing. They think they are following Jesus’ instructions found in Matthew 28:18-20: “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
But Jesus did not say we are to make our governments Christian. Christianity is a personal acceptance of Jesus Christ as one’s Lord and Savior. It is not a belief to be imposed upon another human being. It is not a belief system to be used as a cudgel by a government. To see it that way is blasphemous and indicates a basic misunderstanding of Jesus Christ.
Photo by Tim Wildsmith on Unsplash
In Matthew 22:15-21 (as found in the New International Version of the Bible), the Pharisees try to trap Jesus by questioning him about paying taxes:
Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?” But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
In Mark 12:13-17, that same encounter between Jesus and the Pharisees is recorded as follows in the New International Version of the Bible:
Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?” But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”
Getting back to Matthew 28:18-20, yes, Jesus instructed us to spread the Gospel, but the Christians who want to force the Gospel on people by weaponizing the government with the Bible are taking the easy way out. They are taking a dangerous way out. The Bible and its words should never be used as a weapon.
Not once in the New Testament did Jesus force or instruct His followers to force His brand of religion on the government or on the people via the government.
The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America
Christians have countless ways to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with others. Forcing the Gospel on people through our government is not one of them.
Janet
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
April is National Literature Month in the United States. Maybe I’ll get to read more books this month than I did in March of any of the recent previous months. Writing this blog almost every day along with other things pressing on my time and energy have left little time for reading for pleasure.
In the more than ten years that I’ve been blogging, I have traditionally blogged on the first Monday or around the first day of the month about the books I read the previous month. That has not been the case over the last year or so, but maybe I will get back into that rhythm this year… or eventually. I miss having time to read.
Photo by Susan Q Yin on Unsplash
I read one very small book and part of another book in March. Perhaps what I have to say about them will giver you the incentive to read them.
The Greatest Sentence Ever Written, by Walter Isaacson, is a tiny book with great importance during our country’s 250th birthday this year. Walter Isaacson has done extensive research and written many books about individuals who played instrumental roles in the formation of the United States. It was only natural for him to write a book about the second sentence of the Declaration of Independence:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Isaacson takes that sentence and breaks it down by word and phrase to address their meanings and how those particular words made it into the final draft of the Declaration of Independence.
He states in the first chapter, that “We the people” “is as profound as it is simple. Our governance is based not on the divine right of kings or the power imposed by emperors and conquerors. It is based on a compact, a social contract, that we the people have entered into.”
That early sentence in the chapter titled, “We,” sets the tone for the 67-page book. “We the people” is also the opening phrase in the United States Constitution.
Being a wordsmith of sorts and a political science major in college, I especially enjoyed how Isaacson brought in details about Benjamin Franklin’s input and editing recommendations of Thomas Jefferson’s early drafts of the Declaration of Independence. Both men were learned and very specific in word choice.
Both men were well-read and students of philosophy. They drew on the theories they had read about humanity and governance.
For instance, Jefferson had written “sacred and undeniable” but Franklin insisted that “self-evident” was a more accurate description of our rights. Franklin had become a close acquaintance of Scottish philosopher David Hume. Hume’s theory, known as “Hume’s fork” maintained that there are two types of truths. One is dependent upon empirical evidence and observations (such as, New York is bigger than Philadelphia), while the other type of truth is just true. Such truths are not contingent upon physical evidence or observations. An example is “All bachelors are unmarried.”
Franklin held that our rights are self-evident. They are not based on information that must be gathered and analyzed.
Another interesting tidbit was that Jefferson wrote that we are endowed by our Creator with certain “inalienable rights,” but when John Adams copied from Jefferson’s document, he changed “inalienable” to “unalienable” and that’s the way it was approved on July 4, 1776. No wonder I get confused sometimes over which word ended up in the document!
There is really no difference between “inalienable” and “unalienable.” Perhaps it was a case of personal preference… or an error in copying.
A book that I started reading for book club in March was Where the Rivers Merge, by Mary Alice Monroe. Time ran out, as it often does, and I did not finish reading it before the club met for discussion on March 22. I hope to read it in its entirety before the book club reads its sequel perhaps in 2027. The sequel has not been published, but book club members said it is being written.
Mary Alice Monroe knows the ACE (Ashepoo, Combahee and Edisto) Basin area of coastal South Carolina very well. The story in Where the Rivers Merge is anchored in that location and it is a deep love and respect for that physical environment that is the heart of this book about a family whose members have varying degrees of appreciation for the place and differing ideas about its worth.
The ACE Basin is a large undeveloped estuary in Colleton, Charles, and Beaufort counties in South Carolina on the Atlantic coast. In addition to being an author, Ms. Monroe is very interested in conservation and the environment.
Happy reading during this National Literature Month!
Janet
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
I had planned to blog today about this being the 251st anniversary of Patrick Henry’s famous, “Give me liberty, or give me death!” speech.
But something happened at my house on Friday, and I haven’t been able to get it off my mind. I rarely blog about happy things. Life here has taken one bad turn after another, but what happened in my front yard on Friday gives me hope.
In case you are not familiar with Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan in the Bible, a man was beaten up and robbed. Left by the roadside to die, a number of individuals walked past him and kept going. Some of them considered themselves to be religious.
But then a man from Samaria came along. He helped the man up, accompanied him to a place of lodging, and even paid the bill for the man to stay there and recover.
What I want to share with you today is that there are still people in this difficult world who carry the spirit of the Good Samaritan in their hearts, and some of them are children.
Another point I want to make is that we often forget that little children are capable of great things.
Let me start at the beginning
My sister and I share a home. Whether we like the label or not, we both qualify as “senior citizens.” (We didn’t see that coming!)
We have a large yard with many large, old hardwood trees. Hardwood trees drop dead limbs. They drop healthy limbs during 12-inch snowfalls and storms with high winds.
I compare our trees dropping limbs it to another Bible story — the one in the 16th chapter of Exodus about God providing manna for the Israelites to eat every morning in the forty years they wandered in the wilderness. They depended on God to provide for them daily. They were told not to hoard the manna, for it would get wormy. The manna appeared on the ground every day.
It looks like we are hoarding limbs, but we really aren’t!
That’s the way it is with the limbs in our yard. We are greeted with limbs on the ground. Every. Single. Day. Unlike manna, we cannot eat the limbs, and we do not need them for fuel. We must pick them up, put them in a brush pile, then hire someone to come haul them off. Sometimes we burn them in a big oil drum, but that’s not safe on several levels.
Years ago, someone who had lived in a city all her life asked me, “Where do you get your brush?” How do you even answer a question like that? I don’t recall how I answered her when I calmed down enough to speak!
Perhaps I complained too often in recent months about having to pick up limbs six days a week. (I’m thankful that I don’t have to feel guilty for not picking up limbs on Sundays!) Since my sister’s surgery in November, it has all fallen on me. I complained too much.
On Friday, while I sat at the computer writing this week’s blog posts, my sister went out to pick up limbs. I looked out the window and checked on her occasionally. She always appeared to be doing okay, so I kept writing.
You know where this is going.
You, no doubt, know where this is going and you are probably wondering when I will get to the “happy” part of the story. Keep reading.
My sister fell. She wasn’t badly hurt, but she could not get herself up.
Several cars passed. We live out in the country. There’s not a lot of traffic. I got absorbed in my writing and stopped looking out the window.
The first I knew there was a problem was when my sister came inside, breathless.
Here’s the happy ending
A car came along and the little boy in the back seat saw my sister. He said, “Mom, that woman is lying on the ground!”
His mother stopped the car, turned around, and drove into our driveway. She and her little boy rushed to my sister, asked if she was hurt, and then the two of them helped her to her feet.
My sister thanked them. She thanked the little boy for being observant and for telling his mother that there was a woman lying on the ground who needed their help. She told the little boy what a wonderful thing he had done by speaking up.
She thanked the mother for stopping in the midst of her busy day to give assistance.
The mother asked if my sister planned to keep working or was she going in the house. She said she was going in the house. The mother asked if she was here alone. She told her that I was in the house.
The mother said, “Go inside. We’ll sit here and watch until we see that you are safely in your house.” And that’s what they did before they continued on their way.
What could have happened
This story could have ended differently. My sister could have broken a bone or sustained a concussion. She did not.
The little boy could have been playing on his tablet or been asleep and not noticed my sister.
The little boy could have seen my sister but not said anything. His mother was focused on the road and did not see my sister out of the corner of her eye.
The mother could have been illegally using her cell phone while driving and not heard her son.
The mother could have had music playing or been distracted by any number of concerns and not heard her son.
The mother could have heard her son but ignored him.
The mother could have heard her son but said, “We don’t have time to stop. I’m in a hurry. We’re running late.”
The mother could have said, “She’s okay. Someone else will help her.”
The mother could have said, “It might be a trick. I’m afraid to get involved.”
The unidentified “Good Samaritan”
My sister did not get the names of the little boy or his mother. Chances are, they were not Samaritans. They were Americans. They were Americans doing something that would have been expected and taken for granted in earlier generations.
It is a sign of the times that this incident made such an impression on me. It is sad that we are tempted today to not get involved, to justify our inaction by telling ourselves that someone else will help the person in distress. It is sad that our first thought when we see someone needing assistance is to wonder if it is a trick. If I stop to help, I might get robbed or worse!
I hope the mother in this story thanked her son for what he did and used it as a teaching opportunity. I hope she impressed upon him the value of what he did. I hope he will carry that few minutes and the memory of the action he took throughout the rest of his life.
Today is World Storytelling Day. I recently learned about this day’s designation, and it led me to do a little research.
Photo by Mike Erskine on Unsplash
As a fiction writer, one of the hats I wear is storytelling, but I do not qualify or see myself as a storyteller – not in the true storytelling sense of the word.
Storytelling is an art form. It is a skill, and it is a gift. It is not an instrument in my toolbox. I would love to be a good storyteller, but I am not.
If called upon to tell a story, I will stammer, break out in the sweat, and present my audience with a lot of silent time. Unless those are attributes that a storyteller wants to incorporate into their presentation to enhance the experience for their audience, those behaviors have no place in storytelling.
The National Storytelling Network (https://storynet.org/) defines storytelling as follows: “Storytelling is the interactive art of using words and actions to reveal the elements and images of a story while encouraging the listener’s imagination.”
Taking the definition a step further, the National Storytelling Network explains that, “Storytelling involves a two-way interaction between a storyteller and one or more listeners. The responses of the listeners influence the telling of the story. In fact, storytelling emerges from the interaction and cooperative, coordinated efforts of teller and audience.”
See? Storytelling is technically a whole different thing than writing fiction. The fiction writer rarely gets feedback from the audience before publication unless you count the responses given by beta readers.
Even that feedback does not meet the definition of storytelling. Storytelling is in the moment. The feedback is instantaneous and the storyteller feeds off the energy and emotions of the audience.
Storytelling also often involves hand motions and variations in volume and tone. I can use an occasional exclamation point in writing fiction. I can use words to convey such states as happiness, despair, or surprise, but the storyteller has an advantage over me there. They can demonstrate mood and state of mind through facial expression, volume and tone of voice, and body language.
When I think of a good storyteller, I think of someone who holds my attention in their hand. Their storytelling puts me on the edge of my seat and immerses me in another world.
That’s what a fiction writer strives to do, but without the real-time interaction between the writer and the reader, I believe that level of give-and-take is not possible.
The National Storytelling Network’s website lists five components of storytelling: It “…is interactive,” it “uses words” (including sign language), it “uses actions,” it “presents a story,” and it “encourages the active imagination of the listeners.” I invite you to visit the website for more details.
There is a calendar of events on the website, in case you want to look for storyteller performances and storytelling festivals in your area. Incidentally, in case you live in the Fairfax, Virginia area, a four-day Women’s Storytelling Festival began there yesterday.
The Patchwork Storytelling Guild is hosting a storytelling festival on Sunday in Philadelphia.
The Georgia Mountain Storytelling Festival is coming up on April 10-11 in Hiawassee. If you are interested but cannot attend in person, tickets for online listening are available. (Go to http://gamountainstoryfest.org for more information.)
According to https://calendarcute.com, the theme for the 2026 World Storytelling Day is “Light in the Dark.” Storytellers are encouraged to offer stories of “hope, wisdom, and human connection into moments of uncertainty, difficulty, or fear” in connection with this year’s celebration.
“The theme was chosen collaboratively by the global storytelling community…. At the narrative level, it refers to story archetypes that feature illumination – characters or communities who bring clarity, warmth, or guidance to situations of darkness or confusion.”
I did not know where today’s topic would take me, but now I will start looking for a storytelling event in my area!
Janet
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
We have a Secretary of Health and Human Services who does not believe in science or medicine, including time-honored and scientifically-proven vaccines.
We have a Secretary of Defense who mixes a conservative evangelical religion with a statement that the U.S. will show “no quarter” as the war in Iran continues. “Giving no quarter” is in violation of international law. If the U.S. starts slaughtering its prisoners of war, we have surely lost our humanity.
The U.S. has an all-volunteer armed forces made up of people of various religions and no religious beliefs. It is not the Secretary’s place to inflict his religious beliefs on the troops. If the Secretary is a Christian, as he claims to be, I would like for him to tell me where in the Bible it quotes Jesus as advocating giving no quarter to anyone.
We have a Director of National Intelligence who said that only the U.S. President – and not the intelligence community — can determine when there is an imminent threat to our national security. It is ultimately the President’s call, but her answer on Capitol Hill yesterday made it sound like she and the intelligence community have no part to play in the process.
We have a chairman of the Federal Communications Commission who warned TV networks that they run the risk of not having their broadcast licenses renewed if they continue to report the full picture of the war in Iran. He also wants them to concentrate on “patriotic” programming this year.
We have a Secretary of Education who thinks so little of public education that she vowed to shut down the Department of Education. Perhaps she should go back to her former career in pro wrestling administration.
We have a Secretary of the Interior who is okay with opening national parks for extensive logging and oil drilling while taking down informational park displays that tell not only the good but also the bad and the ugly of our nation’s history.
We have an Attorney General who has difficulty answering questions in a way that might not align with what the President wants her to say. In fact, every Cabinet Secretary has that same problem.
All these people were hand-picked by Donald Trump to “serve” in those positions of power and influence. They also had almost 100% approval of the Republicans in Congress.
We have a U.S. President who clearly has no filter. If a segment of a thought or fantasy pops in his head, it comes out of his mouth or gets splattered all over his Truth Social account in all capital letters.
We have a U.S. President who has repeatedly called the war in Iran an “excursion” instead of an “incursion.”
On Monday, Trump said, “The President of the United States, Gavin Newscom, said that he has learning disabilities, dyslexia, everything about him is dumb.” That statement is wrong on so many levels, in addition to the fact that Trump called Gavin Newsom “the President of the United States.”
We have a U.S. President who orders shoes for his rich Cabinet members. That would have been ludicrous and inappropriate even if he had bothered to ask them their shoe size… which he did not.
We have a U.S. President who has “decorated” the Oval Office like a house of horrors… which, come to think of it… that’s what it is now.
Our closest ally, Great Britain, is now in the awkward position of advising their King not to visit the White House in April because the U.S. President might embarrass him. (I think we can guarantee that Trump will embarrass King Charles. Belittle and embarrass others is what he does best.)
We have a U.S. President who started a war without the blessing of Congress or seeking the support of the American people. Then, in the middle of a sticky situation in the Strait of Hormuz and a worldwide oil crisis, he begged our NATO allies for their help.
When our allies said, “No,” Trump said, “We don’t need NATO…. We do not need the help of anyone.” What an arrogant and short-sighted thing to say!
He said this was a test to see if NATO would ever help us. How ill-informed he is if he is not aware of NATO’s response after September 11, 2001!
Donald Trump said, “I can take Cuba… It’s a failed nation…. I can do whatever I want to with it.” What an arrogant and egotistical thing to say about a sovereign nation, even if it is on the verge of collapse!
I hope I never again hear Americans say, “We need a businessman in the White House.”
Just how bad does it have to get before we use the 25th Amendment?
If the 25th Amendment is not called for now, I shudder to think under what circumstances it would be put into force.
Part of Section 4, 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Of course, if we use the 25th Amendment now, we get J.D. Vance as our President. Vance was hand-picked by Donald Trump. Again, I shudder to think about that.
Perhaps that outcome is what is holding back everyone on both sides of the aisle from seriously pursuing the 25th Amendment.
Janet
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
It is not coincidentally that Freedom of Information Day in the United States falls on the birthday of James Madison. Madison, along with being the fourth U.S. President, is known as “the Father of the U.S. Constitution.” He earned that moniker for his part in drafting the Constitution and the Bill of Rights (the first ten amendments to the Constitution.)
President Madison was born 275 years ago today on March 16, 1751.
Photo credit: Aaron Burden on unsplash.com
The Freedom of Information Day was designated by the U.S. Congress in 1986 on the 20th anniversary of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The Freedom of Information Act gave citizens (and the press) permission to see government records. It encourages us to hold our government accountable and to seek and share information.
As the methods of gathering and storing information continually evolve, the FOIA and its interpretation will, no doubt, evolve. After all, in 1966 at the creation of the Freedom of Information Act, technological capabilities like artificial intelligence were things of science fiction.
Codified at 5 U.S.C.§ 552, the Freedom of Information Act spells out the types of records that can be accessed, as well as the procedure for requesting access along with nine exemptions to protect sensitive information. Those nine exemptions include things like national security, personal privacy, and matters of a law enforcement nature.
It is thanks to the Freedom of Information Act that journalists and news agency are guaranteed access to certain government papers and documents so on this Freedom of Information Day do not take that for granted.
It is thanks to the Freedom of Information Act that the heavily redacted Epstein files have been partially released. I hope the Freedom of Information Act will soon make it possible for the files to be released with only the names of the victims redacted. Somehow, these men must be held accountable for their pedophilia.
Janet
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
Today’s blog post is about the last story in my new book, Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories.
Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories, by Janet Morrison
The house
Actually, “If This House Could Talk” is more of an essay than a short story. It is written from the viewpoint of an old abandoned one-and-a-half-story wooden farmhouse that I saw a thousand times in my life.
That house fascinated me because it did not face the main road. It faced a dirt driveway that led to a couple of other houses. Often, when we would pass it, my father would point and say, “the old Snell place was over there.” I didn’t know any Snells and, as a child, did not care that they once “lived over there.”
It was only after I was an adult and discovered the 1777 estate papers of my Morrison 4th-great-grandparents that I discovered that Francis Snell taught my 3rd-great-grandfather in the 1770s. By then, I had also met a descendant of Mr. Snell’s who lived in Ohio.
Why is it that you don’t know what questions to ask your parents until after they are gone? But I digress.
The essay/story
“If This House Could Talk” is set in the 1970s, a few years before the house at the center of this essay was demolished. After doing some genealogical and Civil War research, I discovered some incredible things about the family that occupied that house in the mid-1800s.
I did not know the history of the house until I was researching the 72 men and boys from Rocky River Presbyterian Church in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, who were killed or died of disease during the Civil War.
“If This House Could Talk” gives that house an opportunity to tell us what it witnessed during that time as it reminisced about a much different time more than 100 years earlier. There were happy times and sad times for the family that house sheltered when it was young.
What kind of memories is your home making, in case a writer decides to let it talk years from now?
Links to the blog posts about the other 12 stories
I hope you have enjoyed reading about each of the stories in Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories over the last several months in my blog. If you like my book or know someone who might, tell them that they can get a print or electronic copy on Amazon or a print copy at Second Look Books in Harrisburg, NC.
Update on Hurricane Helene recovery in North Carolina
As we get further away from September 2024’s Hurricane Helene, it is easy to forget how long it takes for a place and a people to recover from a natural disaster of such proportions. I have little new to report since my last update on February 2.
Hurricane Helene has dropped from the news cycles even here in North Carolina, except for an occasional reference, but I’m still trying to shine an occasional light on the recovery on my blog.
Via Facebook I keep up with some of the things Beloved Asheville has done and continues to do since the hurricane. As of last week, Beloved Asheville delivered its 140th new home to a family who lost their home in the flood. After living in an RV for 17 months, another family finally has a home. It might just look like a mobile home to a lot of people, but it is life-changing for this family. To learn more about Beloved Asheville, go to https://www.belovedasheville.com.
Several roads remain closed in the mountains due to the record-breaking rain (upwards of 30 inches in some places) during Hurricane Helene. For example, I read that Sampson Road in Watauga County reopened a couple of weeks ago after two sections were washed out during the storm. When a road “washes out” in the mountains, it often means that the road and all the soil beneath it slid down the mountainside. It is a feat of engineering to rebuild the roadbed so the road can be reconstructed. That is one reason why recovery takes so long in the mountains.
Portions of the Blue Ridge Parkway have not reopened since Hurricane Helene. I-40 at the North Carolina-Tennessee border remains just one lane in each direction with a 35 mile-per-hour speed limit. Highway construction is hampered by snow and ice in the winter months.
The National Park Service reported: “As of February 12, 2026, many sections of the Parkway remain closed due to winter weather, though recreation is authorized at your own risk in these areas. Specific closures include a bridge rehabilitation project from milepost 63.5 to 63.9, with detours in place. Visitors should exercise caution, as ungated sections may still be accessible but are subject to emergency closures.”
There were at least 57 landslides in the 269 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. Work is ongoing and has moved into Phase 2 in which repairs to 21 landslides between milepost 318.2 and 323.4 are underway, with completion expected by fall 2026. That includes the North Toe River Valley Overlook, Chestoa View Trail, and Bear Den Overlook.
A road closure sign on the Blue Ridge Parkway in June 2025.
The thousands of us who are fans of the Blue Ridge Parkway can hardly wait for all of it to reopen. I’ve read hints that that might occur by the end of 2026.
One of my best vacations ever was a leisurely drive down the Blue Ridge Parkway from its beginning just southeast of Waynesboro, Virginia to its end near Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina. The wildflowers were spectacular and so varied all along the 469 miles!
Businesses in the affected areas continue to rebuild and reopen. Many had to relocate and many will not reopen. Brother Wolf Animal Rescue, which I have mentioned in earlier blog posts, is relocating to higher ground in Asheville. I understand that the town of Lake Lure is well on its way to reopening for the summer tourist season and the lake itself is expected to be back to full-pond stage in May.
The town of Chimney Rock, just a few miles up US-74 from Lake Lure, is still in recovery mode, as the little tourist village was almost wiped off the map by the hurricane.
Life in my part of the state quickly returned to normal after the hurricane, with only small pockets of flooding, but life and the landscape were changed forever in various hard-hit parts of the Appalachian Mountains in the western part of North Carolina.
Janet
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
Spring is teasing us here in the southern piedmont of North Carolina. February is the month when our daffodils pop out of the ground and remind us that spring is coming.
As usual, though, winter is reluctant to give up its grip. The last two weeks of February this year brought us a record-breaking one-day foot of snow and two record-breaking high temperatures in the high 70s.
The day the first daffodils bloom is perhaps my favorite day of the year. That’s how much I don’t like winter!
Among my earliest memories is watching in February for that first daffodil blossom, running back into the house for a pair of scissors, and going back out into the yard to cut that flower.
I would take it in the house and my mother would share in my excitement as she reached in the kitchen cabinet for a little vase. We would put that vase and its precious flower in the center of the kitchen table to be enjoyed for days as more daffodils opened and joined it in a larger vase.
It was nearly 80 degrees here on Thursday and Friday. Today’s predicted high is 46 degrees.
This is what we expect in February and March. The electric blanket won’t come off my bed and be put away until mid-May. Just in case!
Sunset, February 20, 2026
Janet
P.S. The U.S. President’s State of the Union Address is scheduled for tonight. I have not yet decided if I can bear to watch it. The sitting President does not command my attention or respect; however, a part of me believes I should watch it so I will know what he says. It will anger me, but I suppose I will watch it as a concerned citizen.
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
I celebrated the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on Friday in the Learning Resources, Inc v. Trump case! FINALLY! Finally, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to rein in Donald Trump’s overreach of presidential powers!
In a 6-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the tariffs Trump has inflicted on other nations (and, ultimately, the American consumer!) over the last 13 months under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) were illegal. The Court ruled that the IEEPA cannot be used to impose tariffs.
The Court reminded Trump that tariffs are a form of taxation, and taxation is a power of the U.S. Congress – not the U.S. President.
Trump did not take the Court’s decision well, to put it lightly.
Photo by Igor Omilaev on Unsplash
Trump responded by making one of his typically rambling, long statements, calling the U.S. Supreme Court Justices derogatory names including, “fools and lapdogs for RINOs” (Republicans in Name Only). He accused them of being anti-American and under the influence of foreigners. He said they should be ashamed of themselves and their families should be ashamed of them. It went on and on from there. I cannot quote his entire rant here.
Following his statement, he held a press conference in which he refused to answer a question from CNN (calling the news network “fake news” because he is offended by the truth) and answered the questions posed by other reporters and journalists as vaguely as he chose.
The event was a display by Trump unlike any other statement and press conference by any other U.S. President in history. He was a toddler whose parents had said, “No,” but whose parents had then left him to his own devices and allowed him to vent his anger and frustration on the world stage. There are no guardrails on his words and temper.
His remarks would have been embarrassing; however, after 13 months, I will not be embarrassed by anything Trump says or does. I did not vote for him. I have not been shy about expressing my opinions about Trump and his childish incompetence, hatefulness, racism, and disregard for the U.S. Constitution.
I watched his entire public statement and press conference on Friday afternoon. In a word, it was horrible. In other words, it was painfully indicative of how Trump believes he is above the law and can do anything he wants to do. He said, “I can do anything I want to do.” It wasn’t the first time he has said that.
In addition to lashing out at individual U.S. Supreme Court Justices who had been appointed to the Court by Trump himself and from whom he expects loyalty to him instead of loyalty to the U.S. Constitution, he then twisted the ruling into a pretzel by quoting at length the dissenting opinion of Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Although a dissenting opinion in a U.S. Supreme Court decision is not law – it is part of the minority opinion, — Trump clung to Kavanaugh’s words and later said that Kavanaugh is his “new hero.” (I can’t help but think back to Kavanaugh’s Senate confirmation hearings in 2018 after Trump nominated him. All I can remember from the hearings is Kavanaugh’s repeated, angry defense, “I like beer!” Not exactly “hero” material in my book.)
In the press conference, Trump said nothing will change. He will continue to impose any tariffs he desires. He announced a new 10% global tariff on top of all the existing tariffs. On Saturday, he announced the new global tariff will 15% instead of 10%.
There’s no telling what that global tariff will be by the time this blog post goes live on Monday, February 23. (I am writing it on February 21.) This new global tariff is imposed using Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. That Act allows the U.S. President to impose duties up to 15% for 150 days to deal with “large and serious” balance-of-payment issues. Friday and Saturday’s 15% global tariff takes effect today.
Trump indicated that he is exploring additional ways to get around the Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump ruling. His Commerce Department, headed by Howard Lutnick of Epstein file fame, is investigating Trump’s options.
Trump’s tariffs on steel, aluminum, and motor vehicle imports were not affected by Friday’s Supreme Court ruling.
As only Trump can do, he portrays himself as the most pitiful victim in history and repeated on Friday that the United States is the most victimized country in history. As a 73-year-old American, I have never felt that the United States was a victim. I have counted it a privilege to have been born in and lived my entire life in the most blessed and prosperous country in the world.
For the first 72 years of my life, the United States was the “beacon on a hill.” It was the world’s symbol of freedom. It continues to be the world’s greatest experiment in democracy, but it is currently being tested from within like it has not been tested since the Civil War in the 1860s.
Just as people in the midst of a war or national crisis don’t know what the outcome will be, I don’t know how this greatest experiment in democracy will end. However, Friday’s 6-3 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court was the first ray of hope I have seen in 13 months.
Janet
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
Janet's Writing Blog 