[Bass] Now let us… [All] have a little talk with Jesus, [Bass] Let us… [All] tell him all about our troubles. [Bass] He will… [All] hear our faintest cry, [Bass] and he will…[All] answer by and by. [Bass] Now when you…[All] feel a little prayer wheel turning, [Bass] And you……
Libby and I eased ourselves out of bed, and walking on tippy toes, did what we needed to do, and then walked as quietly as little mice out of the hallway and through the large living room. The hardwood floors felt cold on our bare feet even though it was…
Daddy implored, “Joan! Did you set that alarm? I have to be out of here by at 4:30 at the latest. You know those fish won’t bite much after the sun gets up good. And I have to get out there before all those guys who don’t know what they’re…
I realize I have written a good bit about Maw and Paw Spencer in the last few weeks, but there’s more to their story, and I don’t want to wait too long to get back to it and get it all down, so I hope you will indulge me as…
While I was in college, I had the marvelous good fortune to work every Saturday and all through each summer at Skyline Telephone Membership Corporation. Based in West Jefferson, NC, I believe I am correct in saying that it was among the ten largest telephone co-ops in the country at…
The day started as usual for the Spencer clan. Biscuits (at least one jammed full of homemade butter), sausage and sausage gravy, homemade wild strawberry preserves, and peanut butter and syrup with yet another biscuit. We finished up, Mom left for Sears, and Dad dropped us off at Maw and…
I may be cheating a bit with this column, for loafering certainly isn’t unique to Appalachia. Indeed, you will likely find some form of loafering in just about every community the world over. It might be known by a different name, but after all, “what’s in a name? That which…
The world was a very different place in 1920, especially in Ashe County, and the further you got from town, the rougher the country, and, sometimes, the people, too. Breece belonged in that category. He had just turned 18, and he did not let living with his parents and younger…
10:00 p.m.and I still had homework left in English for the next day. Sitting in Grandma Eller’s bed, propped up on what had been her pillows, fatigue prevented me from comprehending anything I read, and all I could think of was the alarm clock that would shake me awake at…
Aunt Mary lived in Virginia. I never knew where she lived in Virginia, and I never knew when she would arrive at Maw and Paw’s house, except that it always seemed to be when we were out of school. She just showed up, and when she did, she didn’t just…
