Gathering: Homespun Essays from Beech Tree Lane

Arts & Photography

synopsis

Synopsis

We are the makers of subcultures. Of all our communities, where are we the happiest? As an award-winning Southern journalist, Dianne Poston Owens has learned a thing or two about people and community – that people want to know their lives matter, their pets won’t rat them out, and that they are not alone. An observer and recorder of people, places and things, she understands that every day is a new day, and each day is played out in tandem and in gathering. Gathering: Homespun Essays from Beech Tree Lane is a collection of short essays intended to be read for inspiration and encouragement. Owens poses questions and offers photographs that allow readers the opportunity to reflect and pause before forging ahead. Written with charming wit, Southern twang and a deepness that is drawn out by nature, Owens explores what we see, say, and choose, and how we connect to the people we interact with in the “communities” in which we gather.

bio

Author Biography

Dianne Poston Owens is a former newspaper reporter, columnist and editor, serving rural communities in South Carolina for more than 30 years. Though she wandered from her roots, she now lives in the same neck of the woods that her family has lived and died on for more than 250 years ... Along with two goats, at least four chickens, two cats and whatever else lives in the woods!

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Author Insight

Scat and leaving tracks ...

... What tracks are you following? Where do these tracks take you? What tracks do you leave behind? Take a moment to ponder how you conquer your fears and move on. Ralph Waldo Emerson is credited with saying “He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.” To that, I add the words of Nelson Mandela, “The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” I still jump when surprised and upon occasion let out a scream when startled, whether by critter, human or myself. But as Louisa May Alcott said, “I’m not afraid of the storms, for I’m learning how to sail my ship.” Go forth. Scare. Be scared. Sail on… leave a few tracks in the sand ...

Book Excerpt

Gathering: Homespun Essays from Beech Tree Lane

Bear poop is a large mound, and often has twigs, berries and even a leaf or two in it. Though bears will eat other things, that was the scat I saw in the swamp along the Lynches.

Moose turds are larger pellets, and if you live in Alaska or some other place farther north than South Carolina, where the moose roam, they are often shellacked and given as gifts.

One last scat story. At Christmas one year a friend gave us the gift of fossilized scat. He could not have known how thrilled I would be! The dung of an ancient crawling critter. It felt a little like soapstone. A little chalky. Just thinking of it makes me want to go wash my hands.

The deer dance down the drive to my house. I go out in the morning, leaving a few tracks of my own, and check to see who they danced with the night before.

What tracks are you following?

Where do these tracks take you?

What tracks do you leave behind?

Gathering: Homespun Essays from Beech Tree Lane

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Dianne Poston Owens

Gathering: Homespun Essays from Beech Tree Lane

Synopsis

Author Biography

Author Insight

Scat and leaving tracks ...

Book Excerpt

Gathering: Homespun Essays from Beech Tree Lane

Comment on this Bubble