Memorial Day Memories – Inspirations from Heartland America

Honoring Our Brave on Memorial Day

America Thanks You for Freedom !

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Trudie’s Tribute to WW II Veterans

Mystery Novel – Social Commentary – 1940s – Inspiring Stories – Heartland America

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Happy 4th of July from Heartland America – 20th Century Freedom

HA P P Y  4th of  J U L Y,  AMERICA !

Enjoy a look back at AMERICA from the coming novel HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings by D.J. Houston

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Faith In America by Donald Zolan

Before the second half of 20^th Century America happened to her citizens, most kids who weren’t beat up too much for their choices were fairly capable — able to focus their attention on the world in front of them long enough to finish a task and get something done on their own.

Even in the cities, even during wartime, people looked out for each other’s kids . . .

As for what happened to the nation and to the minds and morals of her people in the decades that followed  . . .

C L I C K   H E R E  to READ

“Common Sense Freedom – Heartland America”

Copyright©2007, 2013 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

Mystery Novel – Historical Fiction – Intrigue – Social Commentary – American Literature Treasures

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Native American Stories – American Ancestry – Havenwood Secrets

~ from the novel HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings

“Curiosity might kill a cat eventually, but I was incorrigibly willing to risk such things . . .”

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Apparently, the gods of curiosity were destined to call upon me again — only this time to investigate a different class of enigmatic stuff.  But it quite enchanted me.

So off I flew, into what was left of my summer of junk and treasure, to excavate signs of an ancient world — like arrowheads and beads of shell and little, carved hardwood totems.

Sometimes I’d find a rotting weapon handle or a fishing spear or such, washed up in the mud of a creek bank.  And always clay vessels and pottery shards with faded, pigment markings and whatever Native rarities I could scrape from the hills and fields of Havenwood or reclaim from the secret woods that nestled our community. . .

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Life Journey Intrigue – Gifted Children – Coming of Age

Inspirations from coming HAVENWOOD Tales Beginnings

by D. J. Houston

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For all its endless sunny days and amazing Milky Way nights, the magic of that last abiding summer of my freedom before the era of my schooling years began was too often lost in longing to see Mister Walling.

It was more miles than I could walk in a day to reach his secluded cabin and still make it back home before dark.  But I didn’t dare ask anyone to drive me there…

C L I C K  H E R E  to READ

“Secrets of Gifted Children”

Copyright©2008, 2012 D.J. Houston.  All Rights Reserved.

Mystery Novel – Fantasy Fiction – Life Journey – True Friendship – Coming of Age Story

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4th of July – Social Commentary – 20th Century Heartland America

HA P P Y  4th of  J U L Y,  AMERICA !

Enjoy a look back at AMERICA from the coming novel HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings by D.J. Houston

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Faith In America by Donald Zolan

Before the second half of 20^th Century America happened to her citizens, most kids who weren’t beat up too much for their choices were fairly capable — able to focus their attention on the world in front of them long enough to finish a task and get something done on their own.

Even in the cities, even during wartime, people looked out for each other’s kids . . .

As for what happened to the nation and to the minds and morals of her people in the decades that followed  . . .

C L I C K   H E R E  to READ

“Common Sense Freedom – Heartland America”

Copyright©2007, 2013 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

Mystery Story – Historical Fiction Books – Intrigue – Social Commentary – American Literature

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Mystery Novel Memoir – World War II – Heartland America

Excerpts from HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings

by D.J. Houston

~ Honoring My Father on Memorial Day  ~

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My first pearl appeared the summer I turned six, not long after Daddy and Uncle Arthur returned from the Second World War . . .

It was a time of new necessity for Man.  For despite any halt to the march of evil, that war had turned humanity inside out when the white-hot specter of an atom bomb shocked and awed a pre-dawn New Mexico desert and twice carried death to Japan.

Yet no one could begin to grasp the consequences; it was too impossible to confront that such a thing as an atom bomb could ever happen in the first place.

Even after the war, top-secret scientists kept right on with the military to convince each other, time and again, that bombs do, indeed explode, while regular Joe civilian had no clue of such experiments.  And anyone who might have been aware felt powerless to stop them.  So they did nothing.

Post-WW II Heartland America

Families were reunited with their military loved ones the world over, and did what they could to reorient them to whatever became of their lost years at home.

Most made the transition; all were scarred.  But I’d like to think it was easier for the battle-weary to recover in a place like Havenwood . . .

Livestock and chickens and barns and crops and bank accounts needed tending, leaving little time to ruminate about the war.  And with new enterprises springing up as manufacturing shifted to producing wares and gadgets for the new Consumer Age, earning opportunities outside the home soon grew abundant for adults and young folks alike.

Not that play wasn’t fun and important to youth back then; if anything, a crippling Great Depression with a Second World War on its heels had led Americans of every age to value their freedoms and pleasures more than ever.

But work is its own reward.  If you don’t believe me, ask someone who has none.  And with more choices that come to a freer people, we could enjoy work more than ever, too.

All the kids I knew did chores, before and after school.  And those who had already proven themselves as volunteers for war efforts on the home front had a long leg up when it came to getting hired for the paying jobs.

With no TV screens to spectate at for hours on end, and decades yet before the advent of ubiquitous shopping mall arcades, video games, and personal phones and computers, young people tended to play hands-on at the game of growing up.

They practiced the real deal with real people, in an insular world without internet . . .

~

Author, D.J. Houston

Copyright©2007, 2014 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

Historical Fiction – Memoir Novels – Life Journey – Coming of Age – Social Commentary

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Life Journey – Miracles – Havenwood Spring in the Heartland

HAPPY EASTER!  HAPPY SPRING! 

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MANY MIRACLES to you and to all our gifted children coming of age in a new world of friendship and imagination!  May you find every opportunity for freedom and adventure on life’s journey!

THANK YOU to my loyal fans and readers.  The official launch of HAVENWOOD TALES is a much bigger task than I thought!

I wish you much joy and enjoyment from these last, updated excerpts I’ll be sharing with you.

May you ever be SURPRISED 😉

CLICK  HERE:  “Spring in Heartland America”

–   Happily Yours,

Author, D.J. Houston

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American Literature Treasures – Miracles – Life Journey – Adventure – Coming of Age

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Mystery Christmas Dinner – Heartland America Style

. . . He called her his Lily of Liverpool.  She called him her Yankee Doodle.

She liked to say she married him because he made her laugh.  And that with so much opportunity and freedom in America, surely she belonged here, too.

Ladened with crates of Julia’s family heirlooms and decidedly English furniture, they set sail on a passenger ship in the spring of ’46, arrived by train from Boston and bought the old, abandoned Butler place in Rainbolt Hollow, ghosts and all . . .

CLICK to READ

“English Christmas Dinner in America“

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Excerpts from the novel HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings

Copyright©2010, 2012 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

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Heartland America Warning – School Rumor Humor

D.J. Houston, Author

Hello Friends!

What a Summer it’s been for America!  Not to mention this extraordinary 21st Century on Earth.

As for our tale of Havenwood, I can only reveal that — following a summer of brave adventures, some startling misadventure and plentiful mystery after Trudie Beth McAfee’s precocious encounter with Gabriel White Cloud Walling — the era of her childhood freedom threatened to become an empty memory, as time drew near for. . .  the inevitable — SCHOOL.

Here’s some FUN for you (circa 1946)  🙂  Enjoy!

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4th of July – Common Sense Freedom – Heartland America

Happy Independence Day, America!

Happy 4^th of July!

from Author, D.J. Houston

Spirit of ’76 – Archibald M. Willard

Celebrating Liberty. . .

“Those who won our independence believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty.” –  Louis D. Brandeis

What happened on July 4, 1776?   Why celebrate?   

As Americans, we celebrate the fact that our God-given rights to live free of tyranny from any government were demanded and penned by key Founding Fathers in the Declaration of Independence.

Click for FUN FACTS

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Wisdom & Humor from America’s Founding Fathers

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“My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.” 

– Thomas Jefferson

“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” 

– Benjamin Franklin

“All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”

– Thomas Jefferson

“. . . it is much easier to prevent an enemy from posting themselves than it is to dislodge them after they have got possession.”

– George Washington

“In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress.” 

– John Adams

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From HAVENWOOD TALES:

“Before the second half of 20^th Century America happened to her citizens. . .”

Enjoy:  Inspiring Story – Common Sense Freedom

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A Note from the Author to her Fans and Friends

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“You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness.” 

– Erma Bombeck

~

Thank you for enjoying this Celebration of Freedom with me!

I love sharing sneak peeks and updates with you from HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings — the first novel in my HAVENWOOD TALES trilogy.

D.J. Houston, Author

Spunky young Trudie McAfee, whose story I write, assures me subscribers are in for many “intriguing treats” to come 🙂

THANKS for all your friendship, inspirations and encouragement on our journey together!

Happy 4^th of July, America!

–

Your Freedom-loving Friend,

D.J. Houston

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Copyright©2011, 2013 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

Inspiring Stories – Historical Fiction Books – Courage and Wisdom – Heartland America

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Victory for America – Home and War

A peek at the novel HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings by Author, D.J. Houston

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Family Secrets . . .

I was only just getting to know my father then.  Or at least what he’d become.

He’d been away to war so long, I’d even begun to wonder if I’d only imagined the times when the uniformed man in the picture frame on Mama’s dressing table lingered next to my crib to play with me by the light of a tiny nursery lamp, tickling my toes and fingers until we laughed out loud at each other.

As the years blended one to the next, the promise of his constant presence in my life dwindled to little more than a mist of wishful thinking, if I thought of him at all.

Envelopes with foreign stamps and the feelings that broke in Mama’s voice when she read passages from his letters to Timmy and me helped keep Daddy alive for us.  The scene I caught of Timmy in front of the chiffarobe, sniffling and blowing his nose on his sleeve while he tried on Daddy’s hats, made its mark, too.

But our father was home now, home to all he’d fought for.  And I was letting the strength of his quiet nature spread around me like calm on a morning pond.

He reminded me of a sycamore tree with his tall, lean build and sturdy limbs.  His skin was white when he rolled up his sleeves to wash his hands in the wintertime.  And his hair was as shiny black as a raven’s wing, only curly . . .

He had a sort of handsome face, I thought, with a strong jaw and a high forehead like Timmy’s.  His eyes were the hazel, Irish eyes my own eyes echoed.  But I was just beginning to see him as something more than a stranger who’d been smart enough to marry my mother.  And she said the war left him with troublesome things on his mind.

I figured he wasn’t ready for me to tell him about Mister Walling.

As for Mama, she must have been quite a catch for anyone.

She was a pretty, plump brunette with light bronze skin and dark violet eyes, who liked to wear aprons with big pockets and her shoes as seldom as possible — a rare free spirit, inclined to practice the time-honored values of her Native American mother over those of her English father.

And while I knew she would hear with her heart whatever I had to say without belittling my reality, some innate, protective instinct prevented me from giving her reason to have to mention Mister Walling, or suffer undue concerns about my comings and goings.

WW II Victory, Freedom and Apple pie. . .

My sweet, brave mother had found balance in her life and I didn’t want to upset it.

She was grateful to be home in her own big kitchen, cooking and baking . . .  with all the sugar and spices and herbs she needed or wanted — away from the hard times she’d endured at the Sand & Gravel plant after Daddy went to war and the money ran low, when rationing of everything from milk to nylon stockings was in full swing and we could no longer survive on barter from our Victory Garden yield alone.

But those times were behind us now. . .

Timmy and the boys at school didn’t have to collect used paper and metal and rubber for the war production scrap piles anymore.  And I didn’t have to stay with that overbearing woman who smelled like pork cracklings and made me call her “Aunt Millie,” while Mama worked long hours at the plant with too many ladies who wished their men were home.

And freedom reigned!

FATHER’S DAY TRIBUTE:  C L I C K  H E R E

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Excerpts from the novel HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings

D. J. Houston, Author

Copyright©2006, 2013 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

Historical Fiction Books – Mystery Novel – World War II Veterans – Social Commentary

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Inspiring Story – Common Sense Freedom – Heartland America

From the Mystery Novel HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings by D.J. Houston

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Faith In America by Donald Zolan

Before the second half of 20^th Century America happened to her citizens, most kids who weren’t beat up too much for their choices were fairly safe and capable — able to focus their attention on the world in front of them long enough to finish a task and get something done on their own without fear of harm. . .

Even young children could be sent to run an errand, trusted not to meet an early end by a generation of parents and grandparents whose worst fear was that a youngster might actually starve to death if he didn’t learn some skills and self-reliance. And even in the cities, even during wartime, people looked out for each other’s kids . . .

Everybody knew their neighbors, anyway, at least around Havenwood. Scum didn’t stand much of a chance.

As for what happened to the nation and to the minds and morals of her people and their leaders in the decades that followed, it wasn’t television or movies or video games or computers, not guns or even the internet wars and poison food and water that turned out to be the real hidden culprit — as folks in a new awakening would come to realize.

And though the bigger story of who and why and how the money trails connected still lurked behind the scenes . . .

Suffice it to say that, when I was a child, the art of dumbing down humanity with drugs and glorifying violence to masquerade as “culture” under the guise of “human nature” and “news of the day” had not fully taken hold yet as the modus operandi to convince folks life was dangerous, so they wouldn’t look too deep.

People in places like Havenwood could still seek solace in their churches.  And there was still contentment to be found in the plain, old-fashioned friendliness of small town life, and common sense in family.

That the grownups in my early youth weren’t terrorized by a constant barrage of televised bad news sandwiched between phony-baloney commercials was a godsend.  The ominous newspaper headlines and spurious hawkings of must-have wares and miracle cures on the radio were bad news enough back then.

Bad News, School Shootings and “Happy Pills”. . .

 But we didn’t have a TV yet.  And we didn’t subscribe to the newspaper.  And by 1946, the radio no longer had a war to report.

No one at my house was very interested in bad news, anyway.  And except for old Miss Hickey, nobody at school cared much about it, either.

We didn’t even have school shootings when I was a kid.  No student would dream of bringing a gun to school in the first place, now that the war was over, unless they needed it to shoot some supper on the way home.  They could just store their guns in the principal’s gun case, next to his.

As for the day of fearing one’s child might fall prey to some counselor dispensing make-you-crazy “happy pills” to adjust their behavior if they wiggled too much or (god forbid) they thought outside the box, the idea of turning children into zombies was so far-fetched, it would have been hard to imagine even a Nazi Germany could have thought that one up. . .

Which is all to say that during those fleeting years between wars, in mid-20^th Century Heartland America, life was safer for a child for awhile — especially a curious and outspoken one like me.  And able to live a life less influenced by artificial style and false opinion, with plenty of worthwhile work to go around, kids enjoyed a lot more freedom in general.

And so it was, in early summer 1946, that I could wander off unfettered from our family picnic at Silver Bear Lake on a gorgeous Saturday morning, leaving my brother Timmy to fish and run wild with our stair-stepped trio of freckle-faced, farm boy cousins while the grownups played their dominoes.

And with my little belly full of fried chicken and buttery biscuits, I set out to investigate a rare and fascinating day, indeed . . .

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Excerpts from the Coming Novel HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings

D.J. Houston, Author

Copyright©2007, 2013 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

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Social Commentary – WW II – Historical Fiction – Mystery Novel – American Literature Treasures

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