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!

website

Author Insight

What do you wish you had time to do?

To kick off 2020 in the right direction, I am taking part in a "Dare to Dream" visioning exercise. There are many of us taking part. I am not alone in seeking. One question asked of us is to dream. BIG. If there were no financial constraints, no time constraints, the question is 'What would I be doing?" The next logical question is "How can I achieve that, or a part of that, given my fears, doubts, skills, constraints, etc." What do I wish I had time to do? I ask that question of readers in an essay in my book, "Gathering, Homespun Essays from Beech Tree Lane." In this contemplative little book, the answer for me, is Porch Living. There's an excerpt of that essay shown. I hope you, and I, find that business that we're supposed to be about this year so we can be as productive, as engaged, as inspired and inspiring as we can be.

Book Excerpt

Gathering: Homespun Essays from Beech Tree Lane

Live and let live. Rest and let fly.

In late spring, the dragon flies come in droves and spend the summer with their friends on the rockers on the porch of the house on Beech Tree Lane. They strike that certain pose, these dragon flies of all shapes, sizes and giddiness, mostly on the backs and arms of the chairs, but occasionally they’ll take a seat.

I am sometimes in the rocking chair, waiting, watching, like the beech tree, for something to happen, someone to come along, something to be done. Again, another time, I envy the dragon fly, flitting from chair to chair, out beyond the porch and back again.

To the Ecclesiastes’ Chapter 3 list, I add “There’s a time for sitting and rocking and there’s a time for flying.”

Where do you enjoy resting?

What are you busy doing that you should not be doing?

What do you wish you had time to do?

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

What do you wish you had time to do?

Book Excerpt

Gathering: Homespun Essays from Beech Tree Lane

Comment on this Bubble