Gathering: Homespun Essays from Beech Tree Lane

Arts & Photography

synopsis

Synopsis

A Southern journalist, Dianne Poston Owens has learned a thing of 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. As 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

Clarity

People living in Punjab, India, are seeing parts of the Himalayas for the first time in 30 years. Many have lived their lives not knowing they had a magnificent view of the mountains. Their views have been obstructed by pollution. Those people, like us, are staying home. COVID-19. Our novel virus. Few cars, buses, planes, are running. There is less to pollute our air. A funny thing happened because they stayed home to stay healthy. Read the stories. Person after person has an account of what it is like to suddenly be able to see what has been obscured. I’ve stayed in Seattle a little. Sometimes Mt. Ranier is viewable. Many days, it is not. It is there. But clouds often obscure it. When you get a peek of its peak, though, it’s magnificent. There. On the horizon. Still standing. Peering around. It takes a lot to believe its there when day after day you don't see it. Staying put. Staying safe. It is as if the earth has been allowed to breath because we humans are not scurrying about. There is much that goes on around us that we do not see, cannot know. The gift of a pandemic, at least for some, is clarity. Enjoy this excerpt from my essay "New Crops" in my book Gathering: Homespun Essays from Beech Tree Lane.

Book Excerpt

Gathering: Homespun Essays from Beech Tree Lane

here a house was, will soon be a field. Where a field was, there is now a house. Soybeans come from the clay of the old place; a doublewide is planted in the corn field. I miss the activity at the old house. I didn’t know the owners, but heard stories as I was growing up. They raised turkeys.

It was dilapidated and needed tending when I knew it. They slept on the porch in the summer. Air conditioning was the best breeze they could get. The old family carved out a life in the house at the edge of the field. They lived off what they grew, caught, raised, created, sold, traded or just got.

Children scampered around outdoors in overalls, barefooted, laughing and running, kicking up the dust.

Gathering: Homespun Essays from Beech Tree Lane

Buy

	Amazon
	Barnes&Noble
	GooglePlay
	Apple Books
	IndieBound
	Kobo

Share
Follow Unfollow
Comment
x
Comment on this Bubble

Your comment and a link to this bubble will also appear in your Facebook feed.

Dianne Poston Owens

Gathering: Homespun Essays from Beech Tree Lane

Synopsis

Author Biography

Author Insight

Clarity

Book Excerpt

Gathering: Homespun Essays from Beech Tree Lane

Comment on this Bubble