Stories from the Slow Lane
Bob’s Vintage Farm Tractors Have Tales to Tell
If vintage farm tractors could talk, they’d tell great tales, according to Bob Taylor of Black Diamond, Alberta. He prizes every one of the 140 models he has collected and knows some of their stories. Bob, my oldest brother, has been interested in tractors since he...
Mysteries at the Arnim Museum
The E.A. Arnim Museum and Archives in Flatonia, Texas, has some unusual artifacts. Here are some of curator Judy Pate’s favorites and one that she needs your help to identify. How many of the 12 antiques pictured in this story do you recognize? The answers appear...
Leon Hale’s Classic Commentary Lives On
The late, great Leon Hale would have turned 100 on May 30, 2021. Several generations of Texans looked up to the legendary newspaper columnist who worked for The Houston Post and later The Houston Chronicle. From downtown Houston boardrooms to domino games in the back...
Victor & Joe Stanzel: Farm Boys Turned Model Airplane Pioneers
The story of model airplane pioneers Victor and Joe Stanzel is a heartwarming saga about two reserved bachelor brothers from rural Texas. Against all odds, they built a 20th-century business that flourished for 70 years on nothing but dreams. Victor was in the back...
A Story for the Birds
“Pretty postage stamps? Oh yes, this sheet of ‘Birds of Prey’ is especially nice,” the helpful postal office worker told me. “No birds,” I murmured. Glancing up, she did not comment, but I think she was wondering, “Who doesn’t like birds?” That would be me Before I...
Wanted: Another Extraordinary Dog
I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve recently visited the animal shelter so often that I know some of the dogs awaiting adoption recognize me. Yet, Emil and I haven’t felt a connection, that inexplicable spark convincing us a certain dog has been waiting just for us. In the...
Old Home Goes From Jaded to Jewel
When the fierce February winter storm of 2021 spread a pristine coat of snow across San Antonio, Texas, a grand Victorian home on Guenther Street never looked more striking. Three years before, however, the house didn’t glow in the sunshine. Back then, the once...
Bitten By the Auction Bug
When I was a child, Daddy would occasionally load up and haul a few weaner pigs or several skim milk calves to MacLean’s Auction Mart on a Saturday morning. I was always thrilled when he invited me to tag along as he transacted business at that time-honored...
All Fired Up
I was in the second grade that long-ago February morning in the Alberta foothills when Old Man Winter had such a fierce grip. To walk the quarter-mile uphill from our farmhouse to the main road where we’d catch the school bus, Mom had wrapped me in multiple layers...
Other Stories I've Saved
