a.d. elliott - Take the Back Roads

Dear Henry,  Recently, I went back to Northwest Arkansas to visit my oldest son, and we took a day trip to one of my favorite places in the Ozarks, Eureka Springs. Let me tell you all about it. Eureka Springs is a small town of about 2,100 located deep in the Ozarks, near the Arkansas/Missouri border. The area contains many natural springs which are believed to have healing properties, and the area was always considered a place of rest. The Osage people used the springs regularly, and in 1856, Dr. Alvah Jackson built a hospital near Basin Springs, which was used during the Civil War.  By 1879, the area expanded to a resort, and in 1882, after a rail was laid, Eureka Springs became the perfect summer spa destination. Eureka Springs' most famous hotel, The Crescent Hotel, was built in 1886 and still operates an on-site spa, as does the Basin Park Hotel, another historic hotel.  In addition to the spas, the Opera of the Ozarks, established in 1950, has full summer performanc...

Dear Henry, I was an early adopter of the Kindle.  I love my Kindle.  I love having an entire library with me wherever I go, and I love the assurance that I will never be bored while waiting in line. I absolutely love my Kindle. But I've drifted back to wanting a physical library. COVID came, and I got to think about the proverbial "end of the world." According to all the movies, electricity is missing in the post-apocalyptic future, and suddenly, my Kindle developed a serious flaw.   When I was a little girl, I wanted an extensive library full of comfy chairs, a rolling ladder, and tons of leather-bound tombs, but we moved a lot, and a physical library seemed impractical.  However, after realizing I would lose my entire wealth of reading material about 24 hours after the final power outage, I began collecting physical books. Now that we are in what we hope is our forever home, I've started collecting in earnest. My first book purchased for the library was a lea...

  Dear Henry, Book 18 of the Bucket List  is done!  Let me tell you all about Gorgias by Plato. If you recall, Plato was a Greek philosopher who lived between 428 to 347 BC. He was a student of Socrates, and most of his writings are dialogues between Socrates and someone else. In this case, the dialogue was with Gorgias, a statesman from Leotini who taught public speaking, known then as oratory. It began almost immediately as an attack, with Socrates insulting orators everywhere, insisting that public speaking is not a profession, per se, but a craft. The argument then turned to virtue and oratory's role in that. It was ultimately established that public speaking can help spread virtue but can't ultimately be considered a virtue itself, as speeches can easily be made for evil purposes. Socrates also implied that if a culture is not virtuous, it will reject any orators who speak of it.  In Meno , Socrates also explored virtue but did a much better job defini...

  Dear Henry, There has been a lot going on. Let's catch up. I've had a hard time getting settled in Virginia, and I couldn't figure out why; it's exactly what we were looking for. Fish and I stumbled upon the perfect community service project ( The Old Lick Cemetery ) almost immediately after arriving, and we also found our "dream" home here (a cabin in the mountains with a creek running through the property).  The Roanoke/Salem/Vinton area is big enough to have attractions and close enough to Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte, and Richmond to take advantage of "big city" amenities. Finally, there is a ton of history and scenic views, all within a day's drive of our home. Still, I've been having a hard time settling in.  Ever since the injuries from " the accident " caught up with me nine years ago and forced an early retirement, I've spent a great deal of time "getting ready." Fish and I were still being relocated frequentl...