Throughout the world, Christmas is probably the most special day of the year. And everywhere from Maine to California and beyond the ocean, it is different in each community, each home. Yet those of us who like to think Texas is special believe that Christmas here is bigger, better, and more treasured than anywhere else. This collection, first published in 1983, grew out of that conviction. Most of these pieces bring the past into the present, reviving traditions and memories of Christmases long gone. Others reflect the diversity of our Texas people, and still others describe customs that are even today setting new traditions for the future. Want to make syllabub? The recipe is here. Curious about the way African Americans in East Texas or the Germans in South Central Texas celebrated? Helen Green and Minetta Goyne capture those special customs. Elmer Kelton and Joyce Gibson Roach recall the joy and sadness of Christmases during World War II. When it was first published in 1983, this small book enchanted readers young and old. Now it has been revised and expanded - new memories have been added, new activities suggested, new traditions explored. A perfect stocking stuffer!

They came and scattered themselves about the plains and prairies of West Texas like seeds thrown into the constant winds. In clusters or in singles they dug in. Depending on rainfall, they flourished or failed. Maybe the journeyers arrived in the springtime of a good year and saw the beauty of the place, expecting it to last. Maybe it did last for a season or so before a bad dry spell set in. Maybe it was several years before a real drought appeared, which they foolishly thought would pass. Regardless, there were soon small pockets of people becoming inseparable from the land. Some were made sad, mean, cantankerous, negative; some quiet, kind, patient; but all shared stubbornness, informed by the very land itself. In these eight stories that share the same setting across time, Joyce Gibson Roach writes of the place that sparked her treasured West Texas sensibility. Her fictive Horned Toad calls to stand and speak itself into existence-to live again in words. The characters are all familiar West Texas-types speaking in the tongues of dry places. All reflect their moments in time, proving that human nature does not change in this land of rain shadow.

Caprock, Texas, is a sleepy cow town until oil is discovered in the 1920s. Suddenly thousands of people stream in to find their fortune. Some are honest folk like Elise and Victor Underwood, who pray for a little luck with their daily bread. But too many are two-bit swindlers. And then there's frontier mobster Big Boy Daugherty. Sheriff Dave Buckalew faces a whole different set of circumstances as his town springs to life -- in good and not-so-good ways.

The town of Caprock is loosely based on Crane in West Texas, where Kelton grew up, although Crane did not exist until the oil boom.

Honor at Daybreak represents a departure for Kelton. There is no single dominant figure. Although Sheriff Buckalew represents a quiet strength that binds his town together, this is a book in which an entire community joins together to save itself.

Jack McCoy was born in the small rural town of Cleburne, TX in 1929. Inspired by the 1948 Navy slogan, Join the Navy and See the World and enamored by his brother's service, Jack enlisted in the Navy straight out of high school. After his service in the Korean War, Jack was discharged in 1952 with the Bronze Star Medal and Korean Presidential Unit Citation. Decades later, Jack recounts these years of his life as a young Tugboat Sailor and the rich history of the Korean people. Jack currently resides in Crowley, Texas with his wife Nouhad. His journey is one of adventure, courage and humanity.

They came and scattered themselves about the plains and prairies of West Texas like seeds thrown into the constant winds. In clusters or in singles they dug in. Depending on rainfall, they flourished or failed. Maybe the journeyers arrived in the springtime of a good year and saw the beauty of the place, expecting it to last. Maybe it did last for a season or so before a bad dry spell set in. Maybe it was several years before a real drought appeared, which they foolishly thought would pass. Regardless, there were soon small pockets of people becoming inseparable from the land. Some were made sad, mean, cantankerous, negative; some quiet, kind, patient; but all shared stubbornness, informed by the very land itself. In these eight stories that share the same setting across time, Joyce Gibson Roach writes of the place that sparked her treasured West Texas sensibility. Her fictive Horned Toad calls to stand and speak itself into existence to live again in words. The characters are all familiar West Texas types speaking in the tongues of dry places. All reflect their moments in time, proving that human nature does not change in this land of rain shadow.

Joyce Gibson Roach has collected "snippets" of stories, recipes, and traditions of life in Turtle, Texas, which represents many small towns--and the people who inhabit them. Many of the younger generations leave such towns, finding both place and society crumbling. Those who've stayed are finding new and interesting ways to put themselves and their places back together. Both the short and long pieces herein are about the folks who've elected to stay generation after generation, knowing that for them wherever they've stayed is still the Home Place. The characters' viewpoints are personal, sometimes agreeing with facts found in history books and sometimes not.