Her mother, Hannah, died at 32 years old. She had eight children, and one child died. Her father, Lonnie, after a spell, decided to remarry. They were from Shelton Laurel, NC. Mountain folk, farmers, moonshine, tobacco, ginseng, and anything else that helped support the families. The upshot of it was…
I remember her standing over the old, white wood stove with the water warmer and the biscuit warmers. I remember her wiping her forehead with the apron. Mountain kitchens get hot in the summer, and when there are up to three meals cooked each day, they are usually warm. I…
The old man and me met on a dirt road. He got out of his old Chevy truck slowly and deliberately. He sized me up without seeming to – the mountain way. He nodded, and I explained who I was and who I knew and where I was heading. I…
Another time, another vital way of life for mountain folk. Green gold. You were allotted how much tobacco you could raise according to the size of your farm. Some raised as little as two-tenths of an acre. For someone to have over an acre was unusual in those days. This…
The old barn has a story. I closed my eyes and could feel the barn “talking” to me… I knew some of your kin. They came across these hills and settled in here. They built shelters and church/schoolhouses and then they built barns like me. I’m just old and useless…
The porch was wide with white columns and a plain tongue-and-groove floor. The house was a blue house painted white! There was a one-car shed out back behind the woodshed, where I spent many an hour splitting kindling and stove wood for the cookstove and the heater. The car shed…
They came across these hills from everywhere. Scotch-Irish, German, and European, and all parts in between. They saw these beautiful mountains and valleys and sank deep roots into the soil. They worked from light to dark, grubbing, chopping, sawing, and building. They came across the hills with a broadaxe, a…
This is my dog, Butch. The cat was Boots. The chickens were eventually Sunday dinner; and I got something besides the back when that dratted ‘ole preacher didn’t come for Sunday dinner. I never did like him. This was at Hollis Robertson’s rental house across the creek at the foot…
The garden was down the hill in front of the house. But for me, at six or so years old, the creek was down the hill in front of the house. To me, that was a whole lot more satisfying than the garden, but I did learn how to plant…
Our forefathers settled this country with an axe and a long rifle. They came from all over the world and all nationalities. They had the dream of a better life, independence, and fierce pride. They would help each other relentlessly. Usually, shelter for the family came first, then they would…
