Comments on: Black Walnut Festival 2007

By: Jeff Jenkins

Jeff Jenkins — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 18:45:30 +0000

Great Photos. I would like to assure you that the rides you referred to are actually inspected every week and believe it or not might even be safer than those at your local amusement park.

By: sally

sally — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:24:30 +0000

your story is evocative no matter where we live. thankyou and congratulations on your book. i am a New Zealander, half a world away from you, just sold my beautiful hill country farm because i had a stroke, miss it oh miss it! have 2 months to run on a rental house and am planning some sort of move back to the country. must or the city will kill me. and i know what black walnuts are. once you can get the crenellated, very hard shells off and extract the nuts from the tenaceous hold to the shell – then then taste like the most delicious vanilla.

i want to go back to where the bell bird calls and the big old hawk rises up and up through the bowl of the sky through wisping mist and arcing rainbows…. smiles from sally

By: Donna

Donna — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 23:52:00 +0000

I can remember marching in a parade in our small town, as I was on the High Kick dance team. LOL Small town parades are fun. I also remember the animals at the stock show in San Antonio, as my cousins entered thier sheep or something….and my father rode a horse with Roy Clark in a parade downtown San Antonio, in the early 70’s. You made me laugh narrating your day…so funny. I LOVE puppies..but my Parakeet would be gone in ONE bite. sigh

By: Kathy Russell

Kathy Russell — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 13:48:36 +0000

Spencer and the black walnut festival! (My connection to Spencer was the Insane Asylum built here in the 1890s. My poor great-aunt died there in her 30’s — she probably was schizophrenis, but who knew what that was in those days, and there wasn’t a treatment in an case.) But I digress.

We just bought 7 acres and an old farmhouse set back far enough on a hill for privacy (and the best view of two sets of hills and valleys out my back window) but close enough to Rte 16 to get into town when it snows.

My great-grandmother had 240 acres in Jackson County (post office was Given, then Liberty). She bought that farm across the road from her family farm and the house where she was born in 1882 in 1932 at age 50. She worked hard, and was thrifty, so she had money during the depression to get a loan to buy that farm for $6,000.

She stayed on that farm, alone for the last 35 years, and only left when we dragged her off it when she had her fifth stroke. The farm was sold in 1969 for $25,000 and it had a farmhouse, two barns, and level rolling meadows, and a high pasture. If I had been a little bit older I would have bought it myself!

My great-grandmother had electricity (finally, in the 50’s), a well, an outhouse, but free gas to heat the house from the gas wells drilled on the property. (I’m still getting royalties each month from the tiny share passed down to me.)

I started this ramble because I realized when I had to explain what exactly a black walnut was to my friends in California where my mother moved in 1951. They had never heard of black walnuts, and had certainly never tasted one. I realized that I was born in California, but I was “raised” by WV — the values and traditions I learned from my WV family describe my view of the world.

I’ve wanted to move here my whole life, and finally, at age 55 I’m here. The rest of my California family is tolerant of the move, but they think I’m nuts. How do I explain that I was homesick for a place that never was my home?

By: sue

sue — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 03:35:09 +0000

Does your cousin sell his cornmeal? I’d love to buy some if he’d ship it (to california)

Like your site.

By: kaye

kaye — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 17:53:32 +0000

Great photos of the Festival! I have friends that were there too. Yes, maybe funnel cake for a prize photo next year? Beats cornbread any day. Yeah and I’m sure the cats just love the new puppy, poor thing.

By: Lexi Connor

Lexi Connor — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 03:28:12 +0000

Yay on finishing the book!

The puppy is adorable and I’m not even a dog/puppy person!

The ride does look terrifying.

The ice cream cone has me drooling on the keyboard and you’ve got me laughing so hard tears are forming in my eyes!

By: Dena

Dena — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 02:28:14 +0000

I love the fair too. Your new puppy is so cute.

By: Michelle Willingham

Michelle Willingham — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 02:17:31 +0000

I worship funnel cakes! So yummy.

Maybe you should take a photo of that for next year. I’ll bet it might beat out the cornbread!

By: kacey

kacey — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 01:14:05 +0000

funnel cakes, doggoneit, now I’m craving funnel cake…

And you were ROBBED on the photo judging!!