With a firm smack to her bottom, a tiny baby girl came to a family not unlike so many other mountain families. A close-knit group, they held her close and shared their lives with her as they taught her all the important things from their lives that they thought she…
July descended on the mountains, and Dog Days set in hot and dry. Still, we enjoyed cool, crisp mornings that slipped through our open windows during the night and woke us with bright rays of sunshine that cut through the dark. Those first few moments of consciousness on these mornings…
Last week, the Spencer family set out to Spencer Branch to stack hay. They had just arrived at the homeplace farm where Coy, Virgie, and Mary were ready and waiting to help. Coy had already harnessed Pete and Kate, and the time had come to hit the hayfield… ________________________ Daddy…
Most folks think it’s summer, and they’d be right, but that’s not all it is. It’s also Tractor Season. Those tractors have come out of barns everywhere and rattle up and down the roads in every direction. They roam the hills mowing down grass and then raking it into windrows.…
When you’re a child, living on a farm is just about the most marvelous thing in the world. There is so much to do, and it’s so easy to get into trouble. Libby and I, who were really best friends as well as sisters, found all sorts of things to…
I got a lot of things to tell you about livin’ in these ole hills. Why, I’ve told these bits and pieces over an’ over through the years, first to my young’uns an’ then to my young’uns young’uns. But you need to hear ‘em, too, so you listen right close…
A simple plain block of sandstone contains the whole of my life on this earth. It is a remarkable vessel even though it is solid. It has the memory of an elephant even though it has no mind. It holds every emotion I can think of even though it’s an…
Hello Friends! Last week, I told you of how Mom left Aunt Bet out of her wedding after promising her she could come. This week, we will fast forward five years from 1958 to 1963 for another wedding. Travel back with me to the day that Aunt Bet married Uncle…
Two sisters, 19 months apart in age. So alike; so different. Best friends most of the time; worst enemies some of the time. It was a very complicated relationship. 22 year old Joan drove to Winston-Salem where she met her 20 year old sister Betty who lived and worked there.…
Saturday night almost always meant that our family would do something exciting. On this particular Saturday night, MommyBlanche and Granddad were coming, and for Libby and me, it didn’t get much more exciting than that. We waited by the door for what seemed like forever before we saw Granddad’s green…
