Whether we were walking along a country road or following a mountain trail, a fresh little spring was a joy to find and it quenched our thirst as well. Water would be bubbling up from an underground stream. A good strong spring was a must for mountain farms and home-…
My little bedroom was my retreat when I was sick or feeling bad. But most of the time it was my happy place and just the right size for me at five years old. All of my favorite things were there, including my grown up doll and my storybooks. A…
Mom and Dad were married for twenty three years before I was born. At first, they lived in a little one room cabin made of wide oak boards. Over the years, as their family grew, Dad added four rooms onto their house. A walkway made of large flat field stones…
In the 1991 my husband, his uncle and I were in Johnson City, TN at the VA Hospital. As we walked down a long corridor a large poster on the wall stated “FREEDOM IS NOT FREE.” They both agreed that was true. My husband’s uncle and four of my older…
It’s springtime in the Appalachian Mountains. The deep snows of winter have melted. Budding trees show their splendor by displaying a thousand shades of the color green, with splashes of red from the oaks and maples. Walk underneath these trees and around into the holler and you may find a…
The year was 1987. It was just three days until Christmas and we didn’t have a tree. The forecast was calling for bad weather during the holidays. My husband and I lived with my elderly Mother at the old homeplace. All of the big family would be coming home for…
The brooks, branches, creeks and rivers are a sight to behold as they wind their way through these beautiful Appalachian Mountains. One such place is Helton Creek in Ashe County, NC, not far from my house. As I stood there watching the gentle flow of water passing near grand old…
The Virginia Creeper Train was a real iron workhorse. It came into Ashe County in 1915 hauling lumber, tan bark, coal, mail, passengers and other cargo. With all of its noise and huffing and puffing black smoke, it held a fascination for some folks, especially children. Often they stood by…
The summer I was 16 years old a man in our community was asking for folks to work picking bunch beans for market. My friend JoAnne and I went on two trips. We got onto the back of his panel truck with a bunch of other people. Up over the…
My great uncle Jim was a jovial man, a pleasure to be around. He lived in a small house, set on a low hill, just across the North Carolina line up in Virginia a ways. The first time I was at his place I was ten years old. My Dad…
