Dr. Bruce Smith
Dr. Bruce Smith ([url="https://inkwellhearthandplow.blogspot.com/"]Inkwell, Hearth and Plow[/url]) is a retired professor of history and a lifelong observer of politics and world events. He holds degrees from Indiana University and the University of Notre Dame. In addition to writing, he works as a caretaker and handyman. His non-fiction book The War Comes to Plum Street, about daily life in the 1930s and during World War II, may be ordered from [url="http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/product_info.php?products_id=93188"]Indiana University Press[/url].
Most Recent Articles by Dr. Bruce Smith:
Survival in Tough Times: Wherever we go in the Heartland, just look around to see the handiwork of the American brickmaker
Survival in Tough Times: If I could go back in time. . .
With Thomas At Chickamauga
May 27, 2024
There is much to discover on a stroll in a cemetery around Memorial Day
I Sacrifice Myself For Love
May 14, 2024
Survival in Tough Times: She always said it was the most chivalrous thing anyone ever did for her. Just now when she finished reading this, she smiled at me just like that February day in 1968
A Summer Garden to Provide Winter Meals
May 6, 2024
Survival in Tough Times: I wish everyone a bountiful garden season and a plentiful supply of comfort food when the days are very short in the first months of the new year.
Give Us This Day A Moment To Savor
May 1, 2024
Survival in Tough Times: If it has been a hectic day with nothing but harried action, then savor a day in the past. Select a memory and set it in the golden hour. Then savor it until sleep creeps in again
Remembering the Moles Sisters
April 22, 2024
Survival in Tough Times: Cousin Gary, Maxine’s middle son, wrote to me on Friday to tell me Maxine had passed away. He said it better than I could ever do. “What great moms we had! They are back together!”
My Brother Taught Me A Lesson
April 14, 2024
Survival in Tough Times: I learned a great deal from him when he didn’t know I was watching him. Love ya, Bro. Thank you.
A Gardening Forecast
April 8, 2024
Survival in Tough Times: We can find most anything we want right now, and that’s a good thing. A little prudent shopping or gardening might be something to consider. It’s just a thought
Old School Chapter One: The Compass Rose
April 1, 2024
Survival in Tough Times: All of this awareness and appreciation of the landscape starts with a reference point and the compass rose. Check it twice a year on the equinoxes or on a clear night. If you’re going most anywhere, pack a good atlas
On The Road March 14-20
March 25, 2024
Survival in Tough Times
Musical Perfection: Gloria Gaynor, I Will Survive, 1978
March 18, 2024
Did you think I’d crumble? Did you think I’d lay down and die? Oh, no, not I. I WILL SURVIVE!
Best Day Ever: The Blizzard of ’61, Part II
March 5, 2024
Survival in Tough Times:
Best Day Ever: The Blizzard of ‘61
February 26, 2024
Survival in Tough Times: My excitement grew steadily. We were snowed in, stranded at the farm, the happiest place of my childhood in my first blizzard.
How The West Was Won, Alfred Newman, 1962
February 21, 2024
Survival in Tough Times: Musical Perfection in Movie Themes
Why Don’t We Start Writing Letters Again?
February 12, 2024
Survival in Tough Times: With luck it could be the start of a fine new tradition that will inspire writing, evoke sympathy and understanding, and teach a bit about family history. We could do worse.
We Must Find a Way
February 6, 2024
Survival in Tough Times: Adapt! Improvise! Overcome! Translation: We must find a way!
Michael Kitchen as Christopher Foyle in Foyle’s War
January 24, 2024
Survival in Tough Times: Finest Screen Performances:
Thine Alabaster Cities Gleam
January 15, 2024
Survival in Tough Times: The words of Katherine Lee Bates just shock me now. What a time she knew, when the towers of alabaster were the pillars of a great civilization now fallen on hard times
Going to Mickey D’s for the last time
January 8, 2024
Survival in Tough Times: So at the hip places that demand conformity with their policies, the message is clearly this: Do it our way and like it, or just don’t come back. In the case of one mega restaurant chain, that has already been arranged.
The Shadow of Juan Peron
January 6, 2024
Can Milei turn this once-prosperous country around? It will be a monumental task, considering the hold the Perons and Peronism has had on the popular imagination for so long. Perhaps the shadow of Juan Peron can finally be eclipsed by the glow of fre
Edge of the World
December 26, 2023
Survival in Tough Times: In my memory it is always green and there are fuzzy brown acorns scattered on the ground. I go there in my memory quite often, but I’m never tempted go west of Lewisville to peek over the edge of the world.
Musical Perfection: Ricky Skaggs, Highway 40 Blues
December 24, 2023
If you’ve ever set out on the road to someplace different, or if you remember leaving home to find a living or a love, it might just speak to you.
The Winter of Our Discontent Continues
December 24, 2023
Survival in Tough Times: One thing is for sure. Inside of the next calendar year, we’re going to find out whether all is lost or no
Hard Lessons From the Kitchen and Garden
December 18, 2023
Survival in Tough Times
Big Ol’ Comma
December 9, 2023
Survival in Tough Times: Get ahead of them by consulting the barometer and the old weather vane. You don’t have to tell them you looked at the latest maps and radar.
Oh, To Have Just One Day
November 28, 2023
We’ve just passed Thanksgiving week. We try to remember to be thankful on that day, and with luck, we’ll remember to be thankful every week of the year. So far, so good
Report From the Frugality Front
November 23, 2023
Survival in Tough Times: Fuel, Food, Groceries, Tea, Coffee, Store Brands, Name Brands
Give Us This Day Someone Who Will Listen
November 21, 2023
So as a listener and as a narrator, neither exploiter nor abuser be. It’s a good place for applying the golden rule
To Whom Shall We Listen?
November 13, 2023
One of the Most Important Choices in Life