Once Upon a time, 14″ x 11, “Gouache, By Donna Lyons © 2020

This Ole House

By Marty Coffin Evans © 2025

In a recent trip from Colorado to Texas, through a little tip of Oklahoma, we traveled through many small towns. In Texas, you could count on driving through some every four miles or so.  I don’t remember their names except for “Turkey” which seemed a little comical for a town’s name.

No matter which state we drove through, most had a Main Street. In many of these towns, where once banks, cafes, laundromats, service stations and small businesses flourished, boarded windows now indicate their demise. Vacant motels and hotels had experienced the economic impact even though they were located on well-traveled highways. I chuckled at the name of a surviving motel -“It Will Do.” Don’t we often say that?

What happened to these towns, I wondered? How did once thriving communities now remain lost in time with only a modest number of habitants calling them home. In one small town with a two-digit population, a trailer size Post Office insured those residents would not be totally forgotten.

Some homes with weathered siding, no windows or doors had totally fallen down. I thought of an old song from the mid-1950’s, now re-arranged/re-released in 1981 and 2005, “This Ole House.” Who had lived in these old houses? What stories could they tell?

The song’s lyrics speak to this: “This old house once rang with laughter. This old house heard many shouts.”

Now forsaken, these homes once held families. Perhaps that home became the first one where a young couple raised their children. Through life’s gains and losses, they might have grown through time together. Did the children leave home and their small community? Did they look back as their parents, now aging in place, remained in their “ole house”?

These old houses and small towns have their own legacy known mostly to their residents and families. I hope laughter and shouts of joy fill their stories.

October 2026

Morning of Grace and Gratitude, 9″ x 12 ” watercolor, By Donna Lyons ©2025

Strange but not strangers

By Marty Coffin Evans © 2018

Many of us will recall where we were on September 11, 2001. Although our locations will vary, the impact on our lives most likely will be similar.

Had we been on an airplane headed for America, our experience would be quite different. That’s especially true for the thousands of passengers on 38 international planes diverted to Gander, Newfoundland.

Their story has been told through the new musical “Come From Away” currently on national tour. Newfoundland’s population of 9,000 residents increased to 16,000 with the unexpected addition of 7,000 stranded airplane passengers.

Those on the planes did not know where they were let alone why they couldn’t get off. With all the uncertainty surrounding these unexpected arrivals, because of the unfolding tragedy in New York and Pennsylvania, these planes were held on the tarmac for hours, some up to 14, awaiting clearance to deplane its passengers.

What do you do with thousands of unexpected visitors? Empty the grocery store shelves. Bring clothing. Find housing whether at residents’ homes or in makeshift accommodations.  Provide veterinary care along with food and water for animals on board the different airplanes.

Five days later, following numerous calls with passengers trying to connect with loved ones on the few available phones, they re-boarded. What must that have felt like for the travelers? What must the emotion have been for the residents whose lives could now return to normal? Or, would it ever?

“I was a stranger and you took me into your home…” so it says in Matthew 25:35. Indeed that’s what the residents of Gander did. When the stranded passengers wanted to give them money, the common reply was, “You would have done the same for us.” Donations did come in from those grateful passengers as did return visits and reunions.

Stories such as these restore our faith in mankind. Simple acts of kindness may go unnoticed until someone decides to tell them. I’m grateful they did.

September 2026

Dead Horse Point

By Donna Lyons © 2019

Artists, especially, seem to need a change of scene every once in a while, to sharpen
powers of observation and to shake the senses into experiencing the various shapes
and colors and moods of a landscape or environment that is different from the usual. It
is interesting to sit with the colors of the red-rock Southwest, where the dry, buff, soft
tones contrast sharply with the purple shadows and severe shapes of the massive cliffs
and ancient formations.
It becomes a surprisingly awesome experience to witness vast vistas unfolding towards
the horizon, each blue and purple disappearing in diminishing values as they recede.
Fellow painters and I frequent these places of vermillion and brilliant fire colors to open
our eyes and senses, and to mix the colors we see that are so different from the wealth of greens and blues our mountains reflect on our palettes and paintings. 

Getting new material

By Marty Coffin Evans © 2023

We all tell our stories. Then we add more stories, embellishing them for other audiences. “Is that the truth” becomes a frequently asked question.

What do you do when your story material runs low? Well, take a trip and try for more stories found in different settings.

We experienced this one summer when we met fellow Upper Mississippi River travelers that first breakfast. “Our daughter says we need new material,” explained one tablemate. Soon entertaining stories emerged.

“I took a shower this morning and realized I forgot to shampoo my hair,” commented one gal. Back into the shower she went for a redo. Another commented about her sister mixing up the spray. She misted her hair with the room deodorizer while the more traditional spray remained untouched. “I couldn’t read my bottles very well so double conditioned my hair for days. Later I realized I hadn’t been using shampoo,” lamented another. Glasses in the shower, anyone?

Speaking of showers, one traveler regaled us with his story of being “stuck” since the door wouldn’t open when he was inside. After complaining to the staff, an attendant showed him how to pull the door toward himself vs pushing it in from the outside. He never got “stuck” again!

Some travelers have tales dealing with clothing. One traveler’s two tee shirts lasted five days until her luggage arrived. Another wore her roommate’s clothes for 10 days until her own reached her.

River cruises provided more stories about unexpected “viewing” opportunities especially when travelers expected to be docked only to find themselves looking into another ship’s stateroom! Standing in natural or other attire surprised all!

Whether gathered daily or drawn from past travels, “new material” keeps us all laughing at ourselves. We fondly remember those summer’s travelers and tales. It’s time to look for another year’s worth of material.

August 2026

Travelin’ Necessities, Artists’ Sketchbook, By Donna Lyons © 2014

Summer days, travel days

By Marty Coffin Evans © 2022

Summer beckons itchy-footed travelers to land, sea and skies. For some, travel plans have come to fruition with only a slight delay. For others, an occasional glitch can provide an exciting opportunity.

Such happened to friends planning on taking a rescheduled trip to Europe. Their places on their tour were reconfirmed so all seemed in order.

After their 2019 trip abroad, their passports were carefully put away. Not a problem, or so they thought, as they went to look for them. After spending significant time and energy, they realized those needed passports were not to be found.

Even with a copy of these passports, that wasn’t good enough for travel documents. Next step – fill out forms for Lost or Stolen Passports and another for New Passports.

On the day of their scheduled meeting with the postal person in charge of passports, they arrived with new photos and completed forms. “Where are your birth certificates?” the postal person asked. At home! Well, pay for a government search or schedule another appointment with the birth certificates.

Another month later, they again presented themselves along with all the required documents. “Who’s first?” asked the postal person. “Ladies first!”

A quick scrutiny of her documents identified another problem. “Your driver’s license is expired.” No doubt, this couple looked at each other, laughed and wondered if they should be traveling at all!

Although a review of the husband’s birth certificate resulted in a comment about a slight discrepancy, all documents were submitted. His new passport arrived first. She received a letter indicating one form was unsigned! Before over-night mailing this signed form, she included a copy of her new driver’s license, just in case.

By now, they are traveling with new passports. They never found those misplaced ones! What’s your travel story?

July 2026

Anoranaza, 24″ x 36,” Caseline, by Donna Lyons © 2016

The almost forgotten about mountain cabin

By Marty Coffin Evans © 2025

Recent stories told by friends about their mountain cabins seemed initially to bypass my experience. Then, I remember I too had a long-forgotten Lake Arrowhead area home in Southern California’s San Gabriel Mountains.

My memory about this cabin is a little fuzzy from its inception to ultimate demise. I do remember my late husband David and I had headed to Lake Arrowhead at one point, in the late 1960’s, where, after meeting with a salesman (no name remembered), we purchased a lot in the nearby Cedar Glen area.

We didn’t initially build on that lot; we let it sit for a year or so. Realizing that was a waste of money, we decided to build a two-bedroom mountain home complete with a loft.

All went well until it didn’t. With heavy rains one year, our property lines were blurred, which eventually made a difference.

Whether it was a neighbor or someone else, we were told our nearly newly built mountain home was too close to another’s property. There had to be a 10-foot space from the property line to our home.

The choices were limited. The builder suggested he could move the home 10 feet away from the line. Of course, he’d never previously done that! The alternative, which we took, was to purchase the needed 10 feet from the neighbor.

This purchase might not seem such a big deal, other than the money, except we had purchased all the furnishings months earlier. Our furniture friend, David Armstrong, kept them in the basement of his store in Pomona, California.

Finally, the home was finished and the furniture moved from David’s basement in Pomona to our new place in Cedar Glen, about 60 miles away. All was good until it wasn’t.

Because of the remote location of many mountain homes and cabins, a security company, Rim of the World Patrol, kept a watchful eye notifying owners should any problem occur. One did for us!

We received a call from Rim of the World Patrol asking about the furnishing in our place. Did we have a couch, chairs, drapes, and more in the living room? Yes we responded. “You don’t anymore!” was their reply! My exasperated husband, David, immediately jumped into our back yard pool!

Apparently, someone or ones had been watching the moving in of the furniture to our vacant place. Before we could get there and enjoy the blue sofa, chairs, and drapes, all were taken!

I thought of becoming the area Welcome Wagon Lady where I could go around looking for my sofa, chairs and drapes. I hope whoever furnished their place with our belongings enjoyed them since we couldn’t.

You could see why my memory of this mountain place remained lost to time. After our little black poodle Bippy survived getting hit on the head by a shovel or broom or something as we were loading the car to return to our Claremont home in the Pomona Valley, we decided “enough was enough.”

Whether that was the final blow or not, it prompted us to sell this mountain home and find a place in the desert! Did we ever spend a night in our mountain place? I don’t remember!

June 2026