Running On Red Dog Road

Adult memoir 

"We were in the middle of a war.  Grandma came right out and told me but I knew it anyway.  Grandpa couldn't turn on the radio without us hearing how Uncle Sam needed everybody to buy war bonds, and every last one of us had a brother or uncle or neighbor over there fighting."

     Drema Hall Berkheimer, author of Running On Red Dog Road, was born in rural West Virginia.  Her grandmother told her early on that she came from coal, from generations of miners.  Her father died on the job when she was a baby.  When she was four her mother and aunt went to New York to help build war planes.  She and sister Vonnie were taken in by her grandmother and fundamentalist preacher grandfather.

     When I read that I almost shut the book and returned it.  Rural Southern Pentecostalists in the 1940s, I thought, that's gotta be duller than dishwater.

     I'm glad I didn't give in to that impulse.  The books is anything but.  There are some very memorable characters such as snake handlers who believe that their faith protects them from snake venom and a moonshiner who sells his merchandise to her uncle.  Drema herself is no cherub.  She fights with Vonnie and doesn't always obey their grandparents.

     Most importantly, the patina of nostalgia doesn't white wash the pains, perils, and precarities of existence back then.  If you want insights into a long ago way of life without a residue or preachiness or lily gilding you'll really enjoy Running on Red Dog Road.

On a purrrsonal note, I just pulled two delicious loaves of made from scratch banana bread out of the oven.  Yesterday someone dropped a bunch of slightly brown bananas off at the commuter lounge.  I understand how fast bananas can lose their eat raw appeal.  But that's just when they're purrrfect for baking.  You can find easy recipes using stuff you probably have in your kitchen.  It's also versatile.  My husband is a banana bread purist so I made his without extra ingredients.  But I put raisins in the loaf I plan on sharing with my friends.  Other ingredients I've used separately and in combination:  chocolate chips, cranberries, coconut, pecans, golden raisins, other dried fruits.  Use your imagination.  (Jules)

Not exactly my dish of catnip.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to the person who left the bananas in the commuter lounge.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

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