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Thursdays at the Sale Barn
By Mark Morgan There was a time when Thursday was more than just another day of the week. Down in Waldron, Arkansas, Thursday meant cattle sale day. At 11:00 in the morning, the Scott County Livestock Auction would get underway, and if you wanted to see some real country entertainment, that was the place to be. I remember going to the sale barn with my grandpa. Now, a sale barn wasn't exactly what you'd call a fancy establishment. There weren't any velvet seats, and the smell
Mark Morgan
Oct 214 min read
The Morning the House Turned Cold
By Mark Morgan There was always one morning every fall when summer finally gave up. Nobody announced it. We didn't have a phone buzzing on the nightstand telling us there was a cold front moving through. You found out the old-fashioned way. You stuck one bare foot out from under the covers. Then you jerked it right back in. Weather report complete. It was cold. Not frozen-water-bucket cold. Just cold enough that getting out of bed suddenly required some serious thinking. All
Mark Morgan
Oct 163 min read
The Feed Store Was Better Than a Shopping Mall
By Mark Morgan There was a time when a trip to the feed store was more than just going to buy something. It was practically a social event. Now, I don't know how many of you remember the old country feed stores, but they were a special kind of place. You could walk through the door and smell sweet feed, leather, burlap sacks, and enough dust to make you sneeze clear across Scott County. There'd be bags of chicken feed stacked against the wall, rolls of fencing wire, buckets,
Mark Morgan
Oct 93 min read
When the House Knew What Season It Was
By Mark Morgan, There was a time when you didn't need your telephone to tell you fall was coming. The house told you. When the mornings started getting a little cooler and somebody said, "We better get those storm windows on before it turns cold," you knew summer had just about packed its bags. Back then, changing seasons sometimes meant changing the house. Some homes had screens that came out and storm windows that went in. Then when spring finally showed up, you did the who
Mark Morgan
Sep 233 min read
Back When Hot Water Had to Think About It
By Mark Morgan, Special to The Waldron News There was a time when you didn't just turn a faucet and expect hot water to come running like it had been standing behind the wall waiting on your personal invitation. You turned the handle. Then you waited. You held your hand under the water and felt it go from cold, to not-quite-as-cold, to lukewarm, and finally— "There it is." Hot water. And heaven help you if somebody had already taken a long shower. Back then, the hot water ta
Mark Morgan
Sep 123 min read
The Little Green Mint
By Mark Morgan Special to The Waldron News Seems like just about every restaurant around Waldron had one. Sitting right there beside the cash register was a little glass bowl full of those green mints. Now I'll be honest. If there were only three or four left in the bottom of that bowl, I'd sometimes stop and think, "Lord only knows how many fingers have been digging around in there." Then I'd grin... Reach right in... Grab two anyway. Heck, I can even remember somebody carry
Mark Morgan
Aug 312 min read
The Day We Never Thought We'd See
By Mark Morgan Every generation says the world is changing, but I don't know if any generation has watched it change as quickly as ours. Sometimes I'll sit on the porch with a cup of coffee, look around, and catch myself thinking, I never thought I'd live to see this. Take television, for example. ite show came on one night a week. If it started at seven o'clock, you'd better be in your chair by a quarter till, because if you missed it, you were just out of luck. Then you'd s
Mark Morgan
Aug 243 min read
The Town That Knew Your Name
By Mark Morgan Growing up in Waldron, there was something that seemed so ordinary back then that none of us thought much about it. Everybody waved. It didn't matter if you were driving down Main Street or headed out toward the edge of town. You'd see a pickup coming your way, and before it passed, a hand would come off the steering wheel. Sometimes it was a big wave. Sometimes it was just two fingers. Sometimes you knew who it was. Sometimes you didn't. It didn't matter. Arou
Mark Morgan
Aug 192 min read
When Everything Had to Wait
By Mark Morgan I got to thinking the other day about how much time we used to spend waiting. Not waiting in some long line at the courthouse or sitting in a doctor's office wondering why they gave you a 10 o'clock appointment when they apparently had no intention of seeing you before noon. I'm talking about the little kind of waiting that used to be part of everyday life. Take music. There was a time when I'd walk into a store and flip through a stack of 45 records, one at a
Mark Morgan
Aug 193 min read
When Company Just Showed Up
By Mark Morgan Special to The Waldron News Nowadays, folks usually call or text before they come by. "Y'all home?" "Is this a good time?" Back when I was growing up, nobody asked. They just showed up. The first sign wasn't a notification on your phone. It was the sound of gravel popping under a set of tires. Before the car ever stopped, Clyde, our old hound dog, was already headed for the driveway. He'd give every visitor a good sniff, making sure they belonged there. Clyde w
Mark Morgan
Aug 42 min read
The Little Glass Jar
I got to thinking the other day after my little grandson came over for a visit. My daughter sat him in his highchair and said it was time to eat. Without even realizing it, I found myself waiting for a familiar sound. Pop. You know the one. That little pop when you'd twist the lid off one of those tiny glass jars of baby food. Instead, she reached into the diaper bag, pulled out a squeeze pouch, twisted the cap, and handed it to him. He happily squeezed applesauce right into
Mark Morgan
Aug 32 min read
The Old Pocket Watch
By Mark Morgan I got to thinking the other day about something you don't see much anymore. An old pocket watch. Seems like when I was growing up, every older fellow had one. Some carried them in their overalls. Some kept them in their Sunday coat. Most of them had a chain hanging from them that looked fancier than the watch itself. I can still see an old-timer reach into his pocket, pull that watch out, flip open the cover, nod his head, and snap it shut like he'd just settle
Mark Morgan
Jul 152 min read
The Cup That Keeps Ice for Two Days
By Mark Morgan I bought one of those fancy cups the other day. You know the kind. The ones that promise to keep ice for two days. Two days! When I was growing up, we had plastic tumblers that couldn't keep ice for two minutes. You'd pour yourself a glass of sweet tea, sit down on the porch, swat a mosquito, and by the third sip, all you had left was cool tea and one lonely ice cube floating around the bottom. And we thought that was just fine. It got me to thinking about some
Mark Morgan
Jul 102 min read
The Front Porch Weather Station
By Mark Morgan Before weather apps, radar maps, and phones buzzing every ten minutes with alerts, we had something even better. We had old folks. You could walk outside and hear things like: "Cows are laying down. Gonna rain." "That ring around the moon means weather's coming." "Listen to those crickets. Something's changing." Or my favorite: "Smell that air? We're fixing to get a storm." Nobody knew exactly where those sayings came from, but somehow those old-timers were rig
Mark Morgan
Jul 72 min read
The Boot Scraper and the Old Hunting Dog
By Mark Morgan I got to thinking the other day about two things you don't see much anymore. An old boot scraper and an old hunting dog. Most country porches used to have both. The boot scraper was usually nothing fancy. Most of the time it was a rusty piece of iron stuck beside the steps. Before you came into the house, you planted a boot on it and scraped off the mud. On a rainy Arkansas day, you could hear that scrape-scrape-scrape clear across the porch. The old hunting do
Mark Morgan
Jun 272 min read
The Coffee Can Full of Nails
By Mark Morgan There was a time in Scott County when nobody thought much about being rich. Mostly because nobody was. We didn't have two nickels to rub together to make music, but we had an endless supply of things that would plumb confuse modern folks. For example, every farm had a coffee can full of nails. Not new nails, mind you. They were bent, rusty, and crooked—nails that looked like they'd already served two wars and lost both of them. That can usually sat on a shelf i
Mark Morgan
Jun 223 min read
THE GOSPEL OF THE BICYCLE PILE
By Mark Morgan www.markmorganbooks.com There was a time in Scott County when a kid needed only three things to survive a summer day: A bicycle. A payphone dime. And a church bell. That was the whole system. Nowadays, kids carry enough technology in their pockets to locate a lost dog, order a pizza, and tell them how many steps they've taken before breakfast. They've got GPS, smart watches, tracking apps, and enough electronics to launch a small moon mission. We had handlebars
Mark Morgan
Jun 133 min read
THE GOSPEL OF THE BICYCLE PILE
By Mark Morgan www.markmorganbooks.com There was a time in Scott County when a kid needed only three things to survive a summer day: A bicycle. A payphone dime. And a church bell. That was the whole system. Nowadays, kids carry enough technology in their pockets to locate a lost dog, order a pizza, and tell them how many steps they've taken before breakfast. They've got GPS, smart watches, tracking apps, and enough electronics to launch a small moon mission. We had handlebars
Mark Morgan
Jun 53 min read
The Last Generation That Fixed Stuff
By Mark Morgan There was a time around Waldron when folks fixed things so often they barely noticed they were doing it. Nowadays, if something quits working, the first question is usually, “Where can I buy another one?” Back then, the first question was, “Where’s the duct tape?” I got to thinking about that the other day after watching somebody throw away something that probably only needed a five-minute repair. It reminded me how different things used to be. If a radiator ho
Mark Morgan
May 293 min read
THE DAY WATERMELON, POTATO SALAD, AND OLD FLAGS SHOWED UP TOGETHER
By Mark Morgan Funny thing about Memorial Day around Waldron years ago—it always arrived carryin’ three things. A watermelon. A bowl of potato salad. And an old flag. Now somebody’s liable to say, “Mark, that don’t make a lick of sense.” Maybe not. But that’s exactly how summer always announced itself around here. Memorial Day didn’t come knockin’. It just eased in through the screen door like family. Soon as it rolled around, school was out, kids quit wearin’ shoes unless Mo
Mark Morgan
May 243 min read
New Book & Website Launch Post
🎉 BIG NEWS! 🎉
My brand-new children’s book, The Web We Weave, is officially released today — AND I have a brand-new website where you can check it out!
🕸️ The Web We Weave is a delightful, rhyming story about two mischievous little spiders, teamwork, and learning the importance of telling the truth. Bright illustrations, fuzzy fun characters, and a moral that will stick with kids (and grownups) long after the last page.
✨ And now you can find all my books, free coloring books, and even fun kids’ recipes at
👉 www.MarkMorganBooks.com 👈
📚 Whether you’re a parent, teacher, or just love heartfelt children’s stories, you’ll find something special on the site.
✅ Free downloads
✅ Meet the Author
✅ New books coming soon!
✅ Perfect for classrooms, bedtime, and gifts!
Please take a peek, share with friends, and help spread the word. Thank you for supporting independent authors like me! 💛
#NewBookRelease #TheWebWeWeave #ChildrensBooks #MarkMorganBooks #StorytimeMagic #NewWebsiteLaunch #ReadTogether #SupportIndieAuthors
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