<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Author Connect]]></title><description><![CDATA[JT Blackwell]]></description><link>https://www.jacksonthayerblackwell.com/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Wed, 08 Apr 2026 10:08:23 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.jacksonthayerblackwell.com/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[The First Evening You Leave the Front Door Open]]></title><description><![CDATA[There is a precise evening every spring when you leave the front door open for the first time. You do not announce it. You do not consult a weather app. You simply stand there with your hand on the knob, feel the air move across the threshold, and think, "Well. I suppose we’re doing this now." Winter in the South is not particularly brutal, but it is emotionally manipulative. It convinces you that you prefer sealed windows and regulated air. It whispers that comfort is best achieved by...]]></description><link>https://www.jacksonthayerblackwell.com/post/the-first-evening-you-leave-the-front-door-open</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69a1c2d53a2716aeb2178fa7</guid><pubDate>Fri, 03 Apr 2026 17:27:03 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>info1073428</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Return of Porch Season]]></title><description><![CDATA[There is a precise moment every year when the South collectively remembers that it has front porches. This moment arrives without announcement. No one declares it. No one marks it on a calendar. It reveals itself instead in small behavioral shifts. A screen door, long silent, clears its throat. A rocking chair, neglected and dust-filmed, resumes its ancient duty. Someone steps outside in the evening without a jacket, pauses, and realizes—not consciously, but deeply—that winter has lost its...]]></description><link>https://www.jacksonthayerblackwell.com/post/the-return-of-porch-season</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69a1b27032a596f2a27c23ab</guid><pubDate>Fri, 27 Mar 2026 16:08:06 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>info1073428</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[On Explaining the Jaguar to People Who Don’t Understand]]></title><description><![CDATA[There are two types of people in this world. Those who walk into my garage, see a 1967 Jaguar E-Type in British Racing Green, and go very quiet. And those who say, almost immediately: “How much is that going to cost you?” You learn a great deal about a person from which sentence they lead with. The first group understands that some things are not about cost. The second group owns sensible sedans and speaks in extended warranties. Now, let me be clear: I respect practicality. I own...]]></description><link>https://www.jacksonthayerblackwell.com/post/on-explaining-the-jaguar-to-people-who-don-t-understand</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69a1cb6b50fcf4a4279ff480</guid><pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 18:01:07 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/d9e8b9_824371f7a9da4423ae9f8074f0d367b7~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>info1073428</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Best Seat in the House]]></title><description><![CDATA[There is a particular sound a wooden porch makes when it cools in the evening. It is not loud. It does not demand attention. It settles itself with a soft, intermittent tick, like an old man clearing his throat before telling you something he’s waited all day to say. If you have never sat still long enough to hear it, you have missed something essential. The front porch is not architecture. It is not square footage. It is not curb appeal or resale value or any of the other sterile phrases men...]]></description><link>https://www.jacksonthayerblackwell.com/post/the-best-seat-in-the-house</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69a1adef2e226d5eb67bf023</guid><pubDate>Thu, 12 Mar 2026 16:02:05 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/d9e8b9_66324b14a73a43759be294ce5053ea95~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>info1073428</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[On Buying the House That Built You]]></title><description><![CDATA[There are practical real estate decisions. And then there are emotional ones masquerading as practical. Buying my wife's grandparents’ house fell squarely into the second category. On paper, it was questionable. The kitchen had not been updated since avocado green was considered bold but tasteful. The bathrooms were a museum exhibit dedicated to plumbing optimism. The wiring—well, let’s just say it was installed in an era when people believed electricity was mostly theoretical. But the...]]></description><link>https://www.jacksonthayerblackwell.com/post/on-buying-the-house-that-built-you</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69a1cf199d34acb7c434aa06</guid><pubDate>Fri, 27 Feb 2026 17:40:39 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/d9e8b9_322c3cd8159e4100bac18d20663d43db~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_896,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>info1073428</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[On Buying a 1967 Jaguar Without a Committee Meeting]]></title><description><![CDATA[There are moments in a man’s life when he must decide whether he is going to behave responsibly or interestingly. I chose interestingly. A few weeks ago, I purchased a 1967 Jaguar E-Type in British Racing Green. If you are unfamiliar with this vehicle, imagine what would happen if the English decided to design a car based solely on vanity and mild mechanical arrogance. It is long. It is low. It curves in places that serve no practical purpose whatsoever. It looks less like transportation and...]]></description><link>https://www.jacksonthayerblackwell.com/post/on-buying-a-1967-jaguar-without-a-committee-meeting</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69a1c774f9c4f9db16621a36</guid><pubDate>Fri, 27 Feb 2026 16:48:50 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/d9e8b9_a0e1ac5a75c9484681e9c9d23ee6d752~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_896,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>info1073428</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[On Not Saying the Word]]></title><description><![CDATA[I do not struggle with death. Let me clarify that before anyone lights a candle and assumes I am unraveling. I understand death. I respect it. I have observed it from hospital rooms and church pews and the uncomfortable folding chairs arranged beside graves that never quite look real until the dirt starts moving. Death is not confusing to me. It is the most predictable thing we have. What I struggle with is the word. *Dead.* It is abrupt. It is efficient. It slams the door before you have...]]></description><link>https://www.jacksonthayerblackwell.com/post/on-not-saying-the-word</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69a1beb832a596f2a27c3c68</guid><pubDate>Fri, 27 Feb 2026 16:11:25 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/d9e8b9_fe10e11b0b57460aab97088e00fdf027~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_791,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>info1073428</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[I Decided to Be a Writer Before I Knew That Was an Inconvenient Choice]]></title><description><![CDATA[I do not remember learning how to read. I remember *having read*. There is a difference. Somewhere between phonics worksheets and the mild panic of being called on to pronounce a word I had only ever encountered privately, I realized that stories were not just entertainment. They were transportation. They were leverage. They were, if we are being honest, a way to escape whatever mildly humiliating situation elementary school happened to be offering that day. By second grade, I had already...]]></description><link>https://www.jacksonthayerblackwell.com/post/i-decided-to-be-a-writer-before-i-knew-that-was-an-inconvenient-choice</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69a1baa74882ec6a3ac2d3b5</guid><pubDate>Fri, 27 Feb 2026 15:52:59 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/d9e8b9_19c92b1fda1b465298a93107fd45e8cb~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>info1073428</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Allow Me to Introduce Myself (Before Someone Else Does It Poorly)]]></title><description><![CDATA[My name is JT Blackwell, which sounds like either a country singer who drinks too much on tour or a defense attorney who has never lost a case and wants you to know it. I am neither. My name is Jackson Thayer Blackwell. I was christened as such thanks to my maternal grandfather and my paternal grandmother's maiden name.  I am an amalgamation of my family, and also one of their biggest concerns. I am a writer, which is to say I sit alone in a room for extended periods of time making up...]]></description><link>https://www.jacksonthayerblackwell.com/post/allow-me-to-introduce-myself-before-someone-else-does-it-poorly</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69a1b3b82e226d5eb67bfc5f</guid><pubDate>Fri, 27 Feb 2026 15:32:49 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/d9e8b9_bccb7884683f44d281aae1961ea3215d~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>info1073428</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>