On the last Saturday in September I made my final trip to my Uncle and
Aunt's farm near Hogeye, Arkansas.  The purpose of the trip was to pick
up two family heirlooms and say farewell to a small farm that has given
me many good memories over the last 40+ years. 

I brought home a cedar chest made in 1934 by my great uncle and a desk made by my great grandfather.  Both were made without any power tools.  Inside the cedar chest were letters from my Uncle Roy to his parents.  The earlier letters were from Atlanta where my uncle covered the civil rights movement for the New York Times.  (My uncle is depicted in the movie Selma, calling in his coverage of the movement)  He later was
transferred to Washington DC to cover the Johnson White House. 

In one of the letters from Washington to his mother in Arkansas, he laments about how he misses southern cooking, particularly fried chicken. I was reminded of my uncle's lament on Thursday when I dropped off chicken at Farmers Gastropub in Springfield.  Andy, the owner, increased his order of chicken substantially and I asked what happened.  He told me that the new menu features fried chicken and dumplings.  They sold out of chicken two days before I arrived with more! My uncle would approve.  (Now if I could just get Andy to add fried okra and purple hull peas to the menu....)

Thanks for all the support. Now, back to work.

-Jim