Article Archives: Words with Woods

Giving Thanks

November 23, 2017 | by CJ Woods III

In November, 1621, after a successful corn harvest, the governor of the new village of Plymouth, Massachusetts, organized a celebratory feast, to which he invited the Native Americans who had been of assistance to the Pilgrims. They would not repeat this “thanksgiving” until 1623, and it would not be until … Read More

Of Movies and Friends

November 16, 2017 | by CJ Woods III

One of the Heartland Film Festival’s 2017 offerings was a documentary about the poet and agrarian activist Wendell Berry, some of whose work was familiar to me. Before I read Heartland’s catalog description of the film, I called my friend in Louisville. “Do I remember correctly,” I asked, “that you … Read More

The Dream of Her Heart

November 9, 2017 | by CJ Woods III

“Do you know the other Dr. Ruth,” asked the woman on the phone. I laughed at the woman, a veterinarian. “Yes, I know who she is; I made an inappropriate comment about that when I heard your name.” Dr. Ruth Landau laughed with me and said, “I tell my clients … Read More

I Get By, With a Little Help

November 2, 2017 | by CJ Woods III

“You wouldn’t jump me, should you?” The young man spoke from the window of his truck, stopped in front of the bank’s ATM. I had just pulled around the trucks open door, miffed that, once again, someone had parked in the “No Parking” zone. I heard something different in the … Read More

The Delights of Age

October 26, 2017 | by CJ Woods III

The 2017 Heartland Film Festival gave me the opportunity to immerse myself in the visions of filmmakers and storytellers, and this years’ offerings — for me — turned over the good earth of buried memories. In “The Tree,” an 88-year-old widow, living independently, decides to make a 600 mile journey … Read More