I have discovered that living here is a gift that must be shared—an older way, a simpler way, a way that must be learned…

writer, believer, cabin dweller, baker…chronicler of a simpler life on the northwest shore of flathead lake

Hi. Becky Jackson here. Writer, retired English teacher, wife to Rex, mom to three beautiful souls, gramma to nine remarkable grandkids. If you knew me back in my teaching days, you probably called me Rebecca or “Ms J.” I’m a Montana girl who moved to southern California as a high school sophomore. It is impossible to forget those first hot fall days walking down the sunny outside hallways in my wool skirts and sweaters. Mom got busy sewing, but there were four of us girls, so I had to wait my turn. Some years later, in a Juliet-style ivory satin gown made by Mom, I married the wrestling coach at the University of Georgia in the little Baptist Chapel on campus, wedding cake and pastel mints in the basement social hall. Eventually, we circled back to beautiful southern California and the grandparents, teaching in the public schools alongside amazing colleagues and raising our two sons and daughter. California was home for most of our adult lives. We made lifelong friends there and carry the beauty of that place and those people with us.

Since retiring, we’re living in Stonecroft, the historical log cabin on Flathead Lake in northwest Montana. It is everything I remember from my childhood and the fulfillment of a dream that we have been able to share with our children and grandchildren. I have discovered that living here is a gift that must be shared—an older way, a simpler way, a way that must be learned. That’s what this blog is about: cabin life, the tending of place and making a home, the importance of family. It’s about memories, and beauty, dreams, time, gratitude, and growing older. It’s about this journey we are all on, and the faith in the God who loves and sustains us through it all.

My granddaughter Logan set this space up for me as a Christmas present this past December. This page came with these instructions: “This page is to share whatever you think your readers should know about you. For instance, Grandma is a bomb cook, crochet master, literary genius, and amazing person. Her hobbies include being the best at everything, among other things.” What more is there to say? Let me just take a bow.