I'm a Farmhouse Girl in a Log Cabin World

I think I have spent my whole life betwixt and between varying ideas. I love the farmhouse shiplap look. It hearkens back to my inner Walton and my grandparents' houses in east Texas. Houses that the privilege of visiting were taken away from me far too soon.

At the same time, log cabins have always appealed to me. The warm wood and stone fireplaces call to my inner wilderness child, the one that loved Daniel Boone growing up (see my blog post here about that obsession), and camping (although in a camper with AC), and my family history.

I even have had trouble the past few years focusing on one or two things to do well. Only now, at an advanced and near crippled age (yes, I do like to exaggerate, I AM an author), have I seen my way clear to be true to myself in all things, to focus on those things that make me happy (and can still make me money), and to clearly discover my BIG WHY!

I first heard about this Big Why, consciously, while trying my hand at real estate. Keller Williams taught me a lot about running a business, and one of their key points, over and again, was you better find your Big Why.

That Big Why, it turns out, was not real estate. My only fault is trying to create a Big Why I did not feel for way too long.

So, what is this log cabin girl in a farmhouse world's Big Why?

After lots of soul searching and months of grief after my mom's death (which I am still not dealing with very well) and Hurricane Beryl, I have come to terms with the fact that in my heart - I am a writer and a teacher. And yes, those two can twist and twine and pull at each other even as they complement.

And I am not happy when I am not teaching reading and/or writing or writing myself. It's why I have two newsletters and three blogs. It's why I am still teaching writing at the middle school level. (God bless those kiddos - I know they think I am a geek at times.)

But just how did writing and reading come to be my Big Why?

I believe it was a combination of nature and nuture. I was, probably, born with words in my mouth and an overactive imagination. I went to kindergarten already reading. One of my earliest memories is sitting on my parents' bed one evening and my Mom reading a book to me. I was reading along, and then she turned to me and said, "If you can read this, why am I reading it?"

As an educator, I know that was probably the worst thing for her to say. But as a mother, I know nighttime fatigue is real. And I was reading the book. Really. Even before kindergarten.

Somehow, I have just always imbibed words and language.

In regard to the nuture, I again have my mother to thank and my Dad. My Dad was a born teacher. He coached and taught for years. He taught my sister and I, and all the grandsons, more than he knows. And my Mom loved books. She read all the time. She introduced me to my favorite authors. She indulged my whims for writing. It was not until after her death that I realized she was in the journalism club in high school. She probably told me, but over the years I forgot. In going through her scrapbook, and in looking through old news clippings, I found evidence of her own love of writing.

And I have made no secret over the years that it was not the public school system that taught me how to write essays (and pull my butt out of more than one scrape with a C/D in college with a well-written essay), but my Mom.

And so, this farmhouse girl in a log cabin world is finding ways to pursue her Big Why while adjusting some priorities and rearranging some life values and goals. Change is hard. Admitting mistakes is hard as well, but I always believe, as long as there is breath in us, that it is never too late to choose a different path.

My goals this year?

One is knocked out. Dugal McQueen, Ancestors & Descendants, is finished and published. I am halfway through my study guide on writing paragraphs and essays, and I am almost ready to star finish that literature guide on Tuck Everlasting.

And the muses and voices are talking to me in my head. John Cayle and Sarah Grayson are wanting their story to be told in Sarah's Bargain.

Summer can't get here fast enough.

Now, where's that shiplap for my log cabin?

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About Donna

Donna Hechler Porter has always had stories in her head. When they were not swirling and gnawing, she had her head in a history book - both fiction and non-fiction. Now, she puts her love of old things, including her genealogy, to good use by writing both genealogy books and novels. She has published five historical novels, several of which have won awards, four genealogy books on her family history, and several smallish books including a book on the 1778 Big Siege of Fort Boonesborough and a book with tips and tricks for bringing history to life for young people. A graduate of Texas A & M University, Donna recently embarked on a career in real estate. She lives northIeast of Houston with twin sons who are launching into the world on their own and way too many animals that are not. She dreams of life in a log cabin in the woods, even as she is addicted to antique and thrift shopping.

If you live in southeast Texas and would like Donna to come speak at your reading, genealogy, or history club, please contact her. She is more than likely to say yes! 

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