It often seems in the busy lives we live now, we lose connections with the past memories, sometimes present memories, and even our whole connection to neighbors and community. I found myself in just such a state last October when I took the kids out for some hurried Halloween treating…
As the years pass and we grow older, we gain an appreciation for those that came before us. I know that is true for me; how I view the world today is the result of a comparison of what I know of my own history with that of my parents.…
Hi, Folks! A few folks have asked what I was doing while taking a break from writing for Appalachian Memory Keepers. Well, as most of you know in addition to holding down a full time job I am also a photographer. I thought it would be fitting to share a…
When you are a child, most family stories seem rather cute accounts of people that lived long ago. As you grow a little more mature, you sometimes notice that family stories creep in that no one is particularly proud of, but they nonetheless happened. I noticed many of THOSE stories…
*First published in Sporting Classics magazine, this is a true glimpse of the Four Winds Farm mentioned in the “Aunt Mae” column. The Waterhole 1-1-11 Walt Hampton The Pearman farm in Wythe County, Virginia, near Porter’s Crossroads, was 798 acres of pasture, small grain and sinkhole hardwoods under the watchful…
First things first: It is pronounced “Ain’t” Mae. Writing about family is hard for me. Things seen through the eyes of a small boy are clouded by the years and the experiences that come later in life; when we were little we all looked for the best in people, the…
Hi folks! There is an old Appalachian saying that I am sure everyone has heard. ‘If these old mountains could talk’ is the phrase. I’ve heard it thousands of times during my lifetime. Heck, I’ve probably uttered it just as many times. The untold part of that phrase is that…
If you grew up in a large, boisterous Appalachian family like I did then you realize how memories are passed from generation to generation. How the memories become stories that are told over and over until they are a part of your heritage. My father was an Ashe County native,…
It has been said of me that I am a hard man. I never gave this type of thing much thought, to be truthful; but I now realize that this description has been based on the observers’ perspective, not necessarily on the facts at hand. In my world there are…
Hi, Folks! A lot of folks currently yearn for the return of summers warm temperatures, but I for one enjoy both the solitude and togetherness of winter. Besides possessing man’s instinctive survival skills, a certain satisfaction comes with witnessing the arrival of spring after Mother Nature has hurled her worst…
