Diane from Arkansas

When I was a little girl, I was fascinated by old family diaries that Mama had placed around the house. My favorite was a little red one. The binding was torn, and the lock strap didn't work, but I spent many an afternoon carefully turning through the pages and reading the daily activities of my great-aunt and great-uncle. Their names were Choxie and Herman, and Aunt Choxie liked to write down all the pertinent details of the day: what the temperature was, whether the rain came, what she picked from the garden, who came by to visit, and what she cooked for supper. Since I was born too late to know them, that little red diary created a connection, a frame of reference, so that I wasn't completely out of the loop when Mama and her family started telling stories. And there were lots of Aunt Choxie stories.

That little red diary is still in Mama's house, and the last time we were there, Alex discovered it. I know he can't read it, but it was an oddly sweet, full-circle moment to see him thumbing through those pages, to know that one day those pages that I used to read will also give him a connection to relatives he's never met. I guess on some level I hope this "interweb blog feed" will do the same thing.

So last night when Sister called, I certainly didn't anticipate that our conversation would make me think about Aunt Choxie's red diary and the butterbeans she put in the freezer back in 1952. But it did. Because Sister, in the midst of some random blog surfing, happened across a little gem.

Allow me to introduce you to Lena Diane Jennings. I think y'all will enjoy her down-home style just as much as we did. There's something very sweet and charming about the way she describes her daily activities. From the details she shares, you can see that she has a grateful heart, a deep love for her family, and a real appreciation for "hearth and home."

If you get a chance, click on the link above and head over to Diane's blog. Leave her a sweet comment...and if she shares her recipe for homemade cinnamon rolls, I'll pass it along to y'all.

In a world where we obsess over what an Olsen twin is wearing, Diane's perspective is a breath of fresh air.