On Banner Mountain, where I grew up, I scrawled my very first creative writing in the form of a poem. Written with pencil, on wide-ruled paper, possibly a Big Chief tablet, the rhyming words reflected my love for my mother. I was about nine years old at that time. I am the sixth of seven children of Walter and Frona Baker.
There was something about being from Banner Mountain. An awesome experience, really, to have grown up there. Little did I know that falling in love with a young man from a nearby town would uproot me from my beloved Banner Mountain and take me far away to many cities and even to the romantic country of Spain. We lived in Mirasierra, actually, a suburb of Madrid, for more than a year. Spain is a beautiful country with the deepest turquoise skies imaginable. It was there I wrote my first short story.
As I continue to write, my thoughts often return to my Banner Mountain. Good times. Good neighbors and friends, the kind that made our country strong in hopes that their offspring would inherit their faith and determination to keep our homeland free.
© Copyright, 2012, Freeda Baker Nichols
Freeda Baker Nichols 
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How interesting to learn more about your past! Living in Spain must have been fascinating, but there is still something very romantic about growing up on a mountain!
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I see your point, Inger. My growing-up years were so stable in the one house, where my folks moved to when I was one year old, on that same mountain, with the same neighbors–looking back I didn’t think of my childhood being romantic, but my parents and neighbors remind me of the Waltons on TV and Little House on the Prairie folks. I didn’t know that marriage would turn me into a vagabond, but I adapted to that way of life, too. But always I missed my Banner Mountain. The mountain (big hill) is still there but the way of life, of course, has changed. Thanks for your comment.
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Again, to Alice. I’ve never spent time at Dairy Hollow Writers Colony but I have attended many writers conferences in lovely Eureka Springs.
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Thank you, Alice, for your comment and for following my blog. One look at the picture of your cat and I couldn’t resist following your blog. The cat looks so much like a cat that belongs to my grandson. I also have cat stories to tell!
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What a delightful blog. I spent childhood summers at my grandparents home near Eureka Springs, and have had the privilege to return to the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow in recent years. A beautiful state!
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Hi Aunt Freeda,
It’s Dianne, I started reading your book last night, it is very good! I got through the first 6 chapters my first night! I will let you know when I finish it! Love you Dianne
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Hi Dianne, I’m so happy to see you here on my blog. And I’m so glad you’re reading Call of the Cadron! Thanks so much. Hugs. Aunt Freeda
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Thanks for stopping by my blog, and yes, I enjoyed growing up on that mountain. Actually, it’s more like a big hill, I guess. In the foothills of the Ozarks.
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beautiful photograph. I bet you enjoyed growing up there. It’s very inspiring.
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