The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 85, July 1981 - April, 1982 Page: 427
497 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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A Countryside Remembrance 427
Now at night we gathered in an arc close to the hearth. Reading
replaced the storytelling of summertime, unless a neighbor dropped
in with guitar or fiddle. We turned to a semi-weekly farm news, novels
by Horatio Alger and Zane Grey, and New England magazines, after
rushing through homework for the next day of school. Split mesquite
logs in the fireplace crackled, spewed, and sputtered; the leaping flames
led the mind down visionary pathways.
Closing a book, you saw cowboys riding on the plains, a poor boy
rescuing the rich man's daughter, even fairies sitting on morning glory
blossoms. Wind sweeping down the chimney brought puffs of smoke
whose scent transported you to lands far beyond Adalia's horizon. But
you suddenly rejoined the family arc when a log burned into and
crunched on the hearth, your father reaching for the poker and saying,
"It's bedtime."
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 85, July 1981 - April, 1982, periodical, 1981/1982; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101208/m1/485/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.