There’s no other place I’d rather be than rural Missouri. For me there is something a little special about forgetting to grab the keys from my truck and knowing it will still be there when I get back from lunch or stopping by the feed store to hear about who nailed...
As any dad knows, when your darling daughter looks up at you with her beautiful blue eyes and sweetly asks if she can have a kitty, it’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when you are getting a new pet. Earlier this summer that was the situation at the Jones...
In the early 2000s, the Jones brothers were back-to-back hay hauling champions at the local county fair. After I won, my brother Clayton (in the white T-shirt) felt obligated to try to outdo me. Photo courtesy California Democrat There is nothing more stressful to a...
I always get excited as the county and state fair seasons wrap up. I know it’s that time of year when the morning air is a little crisper and I get to spend my weekends watching my Mizzou Tigers and Kansas City Chiefs play football. There is nothing better than a...
This past weekend our kids were up way past their bedtimes running through our yard chasing insects that light up. While I believe this should be a summertime requirement for every child (and most adults), it sparked an argument between Lindsey and me. Are these...
A few weeks ago on a Friday afternoon, the Jones family got to travel back in time — not exactly by choice. The chance meeting of my propane tank and a skid-steer resulted in the emptying of my propane supply that would rival Old Faithful. Thankfully no one was hurt,...
Father’s Day may be June 18 this year but to all of the people who hold the title of dad, every day is special. Nothing makes a more profound change in a man than becoming a father. In fact, some would say fatherhood is a journey that leads boys on a path to becoming...
I have never been considered the classiest dresser on the block. In fact, when my wife and I were dating, I firmly believe Lindsey thought I was colorblind. Maybe she saw a diamond in the rough, maybe it was pity — I’ve never asked and she’ll never tell. Most of my...
I never know what I’m going to find when my brother shoots me a text. Recently it was a photo of a spittoon at the Bates County Courthouse. It made me chuckle for a lot of reasons. I knew right away he was in the middle of a trial back in God’s country. Some of the...
There’s a funny story about a man from Texas who liked to brag about how huge his ranch is. He told his friend that if he set off in his truck at sunrise, the sun would be setting by the time he got to the other side. His friend replied, “I had a truck like that...