Mother’s Day is a special time of year around the Jones household. Most years it involves me scrambling around the house trying to find the gift I bought the month before, finding a way to sneak my kids away from Mom so they can make homemade cards, last-minute phone...
The call from my brother made me laugh. He had just bought a new pair of cowboy boots and had a question for me: “Can I get you to wear these until they are broken in?” Back on the farm, that was my job whenever Dad bought us new work boots. You would think the second...
Just about a year ago I showed up at my kid’s school dressed as a leprechaun. It was St. Patrick’s Day and a few of the dads decided this would be a fun surprise. It didn’t hurt that a leprechaun outfit was a little more comfortable than the suit I wear most days. As...
As a teenager growing up in Moniteau County the car you drove certainly was a status symbol. After spending countless summers, nights and weekends cutting wood, hauling hay and cleaning hog barns, I got my hands on what I consider the holy grail of all cars: a 1964...
New year, new you. When we hang the new calendar — and mine is a kitten calendar courtesy of my daughter, Charlie — it’s considered a time to move on from the old year. You might even want to put those 2021 calendars in the recycling bin, never to be considered again....
For many of us this holiday season will mark the return of celebrating with the family and friends we’ve been missing since the pandemic began. The annual Christmas gathering has always been a major event for my family. It was so important that even when I lived in...
We had quite the situation at our house this past weekend. Max and Charlie’s Aunt Hali and Uncle Wes were in town for a Mizzou game. When we got back to the house, they convinced Max, 8, to watch a Halloween horror movie. Not surprisingly, my daughter, Charlie, who is...
I was heading south on Interstate 55 when the country music station I tuned in played a familiar song. It was George Jones singing “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes?” The Possum’s sad ballad was an appropriate song for the event I was attending at the request of...
This week my kids got postcards telling them who their teacher would be for the coming school year. It took me right back to my days as a Clarksburg C-2 Bulldog. My teacher for most of my formative years was Nancy Hartman, who had a huge influence on my life. Between...
For a farm kid, this is the best time of year. The ponds and creeks are the ideal temperature to jump in. There’s a chance the square bales you’re hauling are straw, not alfalfa. But best of all, it’s fair season. When it was fair season at the Jones Farm, that meant...