Tag Archives: Art Ernst

Small Potatoes

“What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear you speak.”

—Ralph Waldo Emerson


Today’s story is from Art Ernst.

During the Great Depression of the middle 1930s, my dad and his brother, Roy, decided to trade a bushel of my Uncle Roy’s potatoes for a bushel of Dad’s apples when they ripened.

Bushel of potatoes

Small potatoes

After visiting Uncle Roy and Aunt Edith one Sunday, as we started to leave for home, Uncle Roy said “Oh, by the way, I have your bushel of potatoes ready.”

Our car had no trunk so Uncle Roy placed them next to me on the back seat. I observed how clean and large were those potatoes. But, upon removing them from that bushel basket, we found smaller ones in the middle. When we got to the bottom, there was several inches of dirty, dinky little misshapen potatoes. READ MORE 

Burnt Biscuit

“A healthy attitude is contagious but don’t wait to catch it from others. Be a carrier.”

—Tom Stoppard


Today’s story is from Art Ernst.

Burnt biscuit

Art Ernst

Most Savvy Dad stories are special. Some are what we call 10+. That means as good as they get. On that scale, this is an 11.

We found this story floating around the Internet in different forms, “author unknown”. A bit of detective work by our own Chris Neck turned up the original author, original story and some very cool background.

Heat up your coffee. Pour some more tea. Savor this moment. You’re in for a treat.

We’ll start with the email Chris received from the now 85-year old author. Then, in its original form, enjoy one of most touching dad stories (and best life lessons) you’ll ever read. READ MORE