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Sample Past Posts
- Remembering the Schoolhouse(s) Known as “Bell Ridge” in the Morrison City area of North Kingsport, Tennessee January 31, 2020
- A Song of Unity from Long Ago August 19, 2019
- Beautiful Hills of Home August 16, 2019
- When Your Family Tree Becomes All Hung Up July 22, 2019
- “The Storms are on the Ocean” as a Metaphor for Homesickness June 15, 2019
- “Excuse Me, May I Look Inside Your Biscuit?” May 3, 2019
Top Posts & Pages
- A Barony in the Mountains of Southwest Virginia
- Remembering Vacation Bible School in the '60s and '70s
- The Flood of 1977
- Disappearing Towns: Morrison City
- Robert Sayers Sheffey, Mountain Preacher and Man of Prayer
- A Sunny Day in Sharon Springs
- A Conversation that didn't Go Well
- History of a Part of Weber City, Virginia
- Places I've Lived: Paint Lick, VA
- Ode to Soup Beans and Corn Bread
Tag Archives: Appalachian
Remembering the Schoolhouse(s) Known as “Bell Ridge” in the Morrison City area of North Kingsport, Tennessee
There are three main places where children form their identity (or at least they used to): 1. Their home, 2. Their church, and 3. Their school. Bell Ridge Elementary was a school built to serve people of the northwest corner … Continue reading
Posted in History, Uncategorized
Tagged Appalachian, Bell Ridge, East Tennessee, Holston, holston river, Kingsport, Kingsport Tennessee, Morrison City, school, Tennessee
2 Comments
A Song of Unity from Long Ago
A man was enjoying the freedom found in the wilderness of the young nation of America. He was living any way he wanted to, not having a moral compass, but doing what he wanted, when he wanted, regardless of any … Continue reading
Posted in Spirituality, Uncategorized
Tagged Appalachian, bible, christian, Christianity, Church, faith, God, grace, Holston, Holy Spirit, Jesus, love, Methodism, Methodist, mountain, preacher, religion, singing, southern, Spirituality, Tennessee, United Methodist, United Methodist Church, worship
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When Your Family Tree Becomes All Hung Up
There are several places up my family tree where I’m completely stuck when it comes to figuring out the preceding generation. Some of these places will continue to be dead ends since documents just don’t exist. Others are possible to … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Appalachian, Clinch River, family, family history, paternity, Scott County, Southwest Virginia, Virginia
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“The Storms are on the Ocean” as a Metaphor for Homesickness
The iconic Carter Family of Country Music origins (A. P., Sarah, and “Mother” Maybelle) were known for their classic songs. “The Storms are on the Ocean” is one of them. I have been dabbling in autoharp playing for a while … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Appalachian, Autoharp, Belfast, Carter Family, Clinch Mountain, Country Music, family, home, loss, love, Mother Maybelle, mountains, Scott County, Southwest Virginia, Virginia
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Places I’ve Lived: Paint Lick, VA
Back in 1989 I was appointed to the Belfast-Midway Charge in the Tazewell District of the Holston Conference. My first appointment out of seminary, it was my first charge as a pastor, and I was given the reigns of two … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Appalachian, Boy Scouts, caramel icing, Church, climbing, family, figures, Fincastle Turnpike, Holston, Indian, Midway, mountain climbing, mountains, Native American, Paint Lick, Paintings, pastor, preacher, religion, Robert Sheffey, Russell County, Sheffey, Southwest Virginia, Tazewell County, United Methodist, Virginia
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Go Rest High on that Mountain: Reflections on a Mountain Man’s Life
Saturday my wife and I, and her cousin were sitting with him in his room when he drew his last belabored breath in this life. One of his last requests was for my wife to take him “up the mountain.” When men from his family say that, they are referring to something more final than a trip up a hill. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Appalachian, coal miner, disabled, family, father-in-law, fishing, hunting, mountain man, stubborn, stubbornness
3 Comments
Medicine in Appalachia
There’s something about the way we mountain people view health. I think we value our health, but we have odd feelings about medicine. For instance, one of the most widely practiced ways of getting people well in these hills and … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged appalachia, Appalachian, attitudes, medical, mediine, mid-wives, mountains, osteopathy, pain killers, pills
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A Sojourn Among Pine Trees: My Time at Duke
Nine generations of the family lived in the lap of mountains. Like doting grandparents they watched over us, protected us from whatever was beyond and taught us lessons in silence. The sounds of our stories and songs echoed from the … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged alaa abdelnaby, appalachia, Appalachian, chapel, cigarette plant, dirt path, Doyle Lawson, Duke, Duke Basketball, Duke Divinity, Duke family, Durham, family, gospel music, gothic, grandparents, guitar, home, mandolin, mountains, North Carolina, pines, shaped-note, singing convention, southern gospel, tobacco, Virginia
2 Comments
Recycling, . . . Sort of
On the farm, we try to take care with things and use them as long as we can, since cash isn’t growing on trees. At least not on our farm. So we do things with the things we have so … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Appalachian, braces, Cattle, compost, decay, farm, farming, fertilize, grandfather, grandson, hay, manure, manure spreader, money, nervous, recycling, retainer, tobacco, work
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