August 18, 2010: Riley, Six and a Half

May 9, 2010: Granny Bea Photo Tribute, Ramble #7

I’ve written here before about my “Ramble” creative writing project. On Dec. 30 of 2009, I sat down to write a Ramble entry for my late grandmother Beatrice Ridings, who was widely known to many as Granny Bea, Aunt Bea, or Ms. Ridings. I had two wonderful grandmothers who have now passed on, and luckily for me, Grandma Eileen Darnell, who we called Bam, was also tight with Granny Bea, so on more than one occasion, I was able to enjoy them both together simultaneously. I am in the gathering process for a future post about Grandma Bam, but I’m very proud to finally share something with you that I feel is a suitable tribute to Granny Bea. Read more

October 3, 2009: Amelia, Eightish

April 27, 2009: Stage might from Daddy…

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February 1, 2009: Brother a keeper

January 18, 2008: Soaking it all in…

Ramble #16
by Roger Darnell

I haven’t logged in up at the top yet…
I’m hardly qualified to be a poet tonight.
It was a good day… a day with the kids.
No less than Hickory Dickory Dock: The
indoor recreational labyrinth of legend;
it did not disappoint. Home, in the snows,
well into our sixth Appalachian winter,
our family joined the neighbors for dinner;
they had other friends with kids join us.
A night of merriment was enjoyed by all.
Such a simple lifestyle, so warm, so fun.
We are basking in it, and so are our two.
Settled ways with nice friends, all well
far and wide where we are looking.
Much to do… and yet, what an adventure
this simple life is turning out to be!

January 17, 2008: Ramble #17

The ‘Bumper Crop’ series has at least one more entry, but requires a bit more work on my part before I can post the rest of the story. In the meantime, I wanted to share something from a more recent work. After we moved to the Blue Ridge Mountains almost exactly seven years ago, I found my creative writing energies more or less depleted. Soon, being a father added a new dimension to my life, and the one creative project that stayed on my agenda was to write an epic poem for Amelia, detailing the first day of her life from my perspective. That took over a year, and eventually it may find its way on here. After finishing that, in the moments when life and work settled down, I began to wonder what should come next. The answer found me in the form of a new project I conceived, and dubbed “Ramble.” Read more