Out like a Lion

What's this? Snow? After our spring Down South last week?

Goodbye March! Don't let the door hit you on the way out!

Down South

Today is cold, damp, and gray, with just the hint of a mist in the air. I've caught the thermometer lying several times. So I've decided to revisit last week, at least in my mind.

Last week we visited our son and his family Down South. Spring was in full force there.

The camellias were already a little past their prime, but the dogwoods and azaleas were at peak.

Here we have to hang on while spring makes it usual two steps forward, one step back approach.

Surely we'll see dogwoods and azaleas bloom by mid-April. Surely.

Barns, Part 1

One of my favorite blogs, Vanishing Eastern Kentucky, consists of photos of structures once commonplace but now in danger of disappearing altogether. The blog appeals to me because I've been taking pictures like that for much of my life.

Barns, in particular, appeal to me because they represent so many aspects of our history and culture. Their architecture tells us much about the ethnic heritage of the people who built them; German barns are different from English barns.

They can tell us if they were part of a large, prosperous farm or a small subsistence farm.

They tell about the crops that were important to people that built them. Tobacco barns and livestock sheds are different from each other, and both differ from dairy barns.

But most of all, they remind us that ways of making a living have changed and we have to preserve them if we want to hold on to the memories of that time.

Roadside Salvation

 Patchwork Nation calls our area Evangelical Epicenters, and I guess that fits. The casual visitor driving through can't miss the tell-tale signs. These first two are historical, now preserved at John Rice Irwin's Museum of Appalachia in Norris, Tennessee.

Other signs remain.

This barn, located in Glenmary, Tennessee, has always reminded me of the "There's still time, brother" banner in the 1959 film, On the Beach. Sadly there's not still time for this barn; it collapsed this past winter. But then, that's consistent with the movie, isn't it? Don't fret, there are lots of similar signs throughout the area.

This barn is still delivering it's message.  You'll find it on U.S. 25 just south of Newport, Tennessee. We pass it every time we visit Hot Springs, North Carolina.

You can enlarge each of these pictures by just clicking on the picture.

One step closer

It's up!

After more than a year of helping organize a quilt barn trail for our home county, we finally have gotten our own quilt block painted and hung on our car barn. The pattern is Ohio Star, which commemorates our meeting and marrying in Cincinnati where we each had gone to teach. (Yes, we did both "come down from the mountain.") The colors in the quilt block repeat the colors of our 1880s-looking "railroad" house. Ours makes the sixth quilt block in the village, each of which commemorates something in the history of the family that erected it or of the village itself.

Eric & Vi's Pennsylvania block recalls Eric's heritage.

Butch & Cheryl's block is from a quilt they own. Butch's grandmother made it for her son, Quentin, when he was called to service in World War II. The quilt was shipped home among the contents of his footlocker after he was killed in the war. Butch, who is named for his uncle, received the quilt from his grandmother.

The nine-patch on the Harrow Road Cafe reproduces part of a quilt that was made by an early resident of the village.

Sadie's Quilt on Boyd & Barbara's garage building reproduces a block from a quilt the Rugby Quilters made to hang in the Historic Rugby, Inc., Visitor Centre, which honors an early resident, Sarah "Sadie" Walton.

The Crazy Quilt on the Historic Rugby Commissary Museum Store contains references to the village's history, starting with its founding in 1880.

These blocks and more will be part of the inaugural tour of the Morgan County Heritage Quilt Trail on April 9, 2011.  There will be an opening ceremony at the courthouse in Wartburg, Tennessee, followed by a bus tour. The bus tour to see approximately 20 quilt barns, admission to a quilt exhibition at Historic Rugby, and tea at Grey Gables Bed & Breakfast Inn is only $15.00. Contact the Chamber of Commerce for information and reservations at 423.346.5740.  For more on the Rugby Quilt Exhibit on April 8 & 9, 2011, visit the Historic Rugby web site here.

Silly Saturday

Spring has arrived.  My inner child has demanded to be set free, to run barefoot through my mind. Here's what he found:

The Liars' Bench

Mimicry

Bath time

Who really watches television

Clean energy

There, wasn't that fun?

Down from the mountain

We call it "on the mountain." It's the Cumberland Plateau and its elevation only becomes apparent on approaching it, or in reference to one of the many gorges carved into it. The escarpments, and especially the gorges, provide a seemingly endless variety of landforms that form the backdrop of my life, but also speak of something deeper. It's home.

Our ancestors came here more than 200 years ago. They raised families, divided the land, raised more families, and further divided the land. When there was no longer enough land to feed new families, many came down from the mountain to cities and jobs.

Some came home on weekends.

Some came home to retire.

Some came home to be buried.

But like the water flowing down from the mountain, we always come back. It's home.