“Spring was chancy, but she liked it best of all the seasons. One day would be still and soft with the sun flowing like honey along the hillsides, over the brown winter leaves and the tender green things peeping through, with time slow and the bees buzzing somewhere in the sunshine-forever, forever-and the next day fierce, with the wind tearing through the woods in gusts, shaking the last of dry oak leaves, bending treetops, piercing every crevice of house and clothing with a bitter chill, and time rushing with it down the valley.”

Wilma Dykeman – The Tall Woman

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“With the wind tearing through the woods in gusts, shaking the last of dry oak leaves, bending treetops, piercing every crevice of house and clothing with a bitter chill, and time rushing with it down the valley.” Yep that pretty much sums up yesterday and today in Brasstown. As she said, Spring is chancy.

Tipper

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16 Comments

  1. The picture made me want to yell back up the trail; you’ns better look out, there’s some br’ars out in front of you that’ll cut you in two.

  2. Tipper,
    When I got home last night my porch was slick as a Frog’s belly. The temp was down to 31 and it either snowed or sleeted before I got there, but I had some sleet here at the shop before dark. …Ken

  3. Thank you for introducing me to this author! I have never heard of her, but will definitely try and find some of her books. Her writing is so eloquent. Yes, I think we are in Dogwood Winter. We still have Blackberry Winter to go! Funny how there’s always a cold snap around Easter. I remember we would always have our pretty new “Easter” dresses and either froze to death or wore a coat and covered up our new outfits. I remember my Daddy would say, “No need to plant anything before May 15th”. All our neighbors would get excited and start planting as soon as we had a couple of pretty Spring Days. He would say, “We are still going to have some frost until after Blackberry Winter. Besides that, the grounds too cold, and if you wait until after May 15th it’s warmed up enough it will catch up with everybody else’s anyway and no risk of losing it to a freeze.” Of course that didn’t include the potatoes or cabbage, which can take the cold. He also wouldn’t let us go bare footed until after May 15th. Thanks for making me smile recalling fond memories of my Daddy , gardening and Easter!

  4. OK Tipper: YOU HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD, today! You talk about chancy? Yesterday we experienced a DOWN FALL of trees in the edge of our yard – with NO WIND BLOWING!
    Sitting in the living room, I head the crashing sound! BUT Jim thought I was joking – as his ears don’t work good. “NO! NO!” I said, something crashed in the forest. We went out and could not believe what we saw. All the broken trunks were lying right where we often walk – when we hike around our neighborhood of “Oak Hills”!
    NOW CITY FOLKS ARE OUT THERE CLEARING THE STREET! I don’t want to cut any of our trees but the city folks may do so! We have 200 year old Oaks that need to be cut but I just can’t take them out!
    I get my LOVE OF NATURE from my father! When I was six/seven years old, he and I would do Sunday afternoon hikes up to the Cross Tie Hollower on Sunny Sunday afternoons! He taught me the name and use for every tree and plant along the trail! Guess that is the ‘roots’ of my obsession for gardening.
    Eva Nell

  5. I think of spring as the Battle of the Fronts, Artic ones coming down from the northwest across the Plains and Gulf ones coming up from the ocean. They push and tug and struggle, going back and forth, first one winning then the other but the trend all the time toward Spring.

  6. We have a frost warning here in The Bourbon Capital Of The World for tonight. At least the sun is shining today! It’s been the gloomiest spring I can remember for some time. Wednesday night’s storm brought neighbors to my house to take shelter in my basement if we needed to. A neighborhood five miles down the road got attention on the national news as they covered the hail damage in the area. I got marble size hail that beat my house and roof for a minute or two, but it’s been too cold to climb ladders inspecting for damage.

  7. Spring really is chancy. This past Wednesday it was 75 degrees and sunny and that night we had a wind storm. It blew over the beautiful sugar maple in the holler close to our house, The maple was about 3 foot through.

  8. Spring really is chancy. This past Wednesday it was 75 degrees and sunny and that night we had a wind storm. It blew over the beautiful sugar maple in the holler close to our house, The maple was about 3 foot through.

  9. Spring really is chancy. This past Wednesday it was 75 degrees and sunny and that night we had a wind storm. It blew over the beautiful sugar maple in the holler close to our house, The maple was about 3 foot through.

  10. Spring really is chancy. This past Wednesday it was 75 degrees and sunny and that night we had a wind storm. It blew over the beautiful sugar maple in the holler close to our house, The maple was about 3 foot through.

  11. I had the pleasure of meeting Wilma Dykeman back in 1987 when I worked for the Blue Ridge News Company as a book distributor. She was the most interesting author and down to earth lady. We spoke of the woods and the rivers, and how much they needed to be preserved for future generations. She spoke as eloquently as she wrote in her books, and I’ll never forget her.
    Spring is certainly in one of her wilder moods today – Mama said the wind would blow the hair slap off your head if you didn’t batten it down with a hat!
    Love from the windy and cold riverbank in Marshall!

  12. Tipper,
    Wilma Dykeman was one of my Mothers favorite authors. Especially, I suppose because she was from Buncombe County, NC.
    I inherited Moms books by Dykeman. Her favorite book was The French Broad.
    Mom loved rivers, but floods and rivers terrified her at the same time. When she was a toddler in Madison county the family experienced a flood that washed away their home. Story goes she was scooped up and carried to safety just as the waters were rising! She lost one of her only favorite dolls and lamented about the loss of it, telling me the story over and over thru the years if Santa brought me a new doll! Bless her heart!
    In her later life another flood in Marshall, caused her to lose nearly everything. Happening not long after my parents were married. I still have the bedroom suite, with the wavy bottom of the vanity and chest of drawers. They stood in flood water until the water went down enough so they could move and recover some items. Not long after the depression, items had to be dried out, thoroughly cleaned and kept if possible.
    Wilma Dykeman also wrote a weekly column for the Knoxville News Sentinel. She was a great author and had a wonderful placement of terminology to describe our Appalachian area.
    Well, didn’t mean to go on about a river flood in Appalachia that was part of my heritage. The post about Wilma Dykeman, thoughts of books she authored, just brought back Moms memories and the French Broad. Maybe that is why my Mom and now our family chose a higher hill to live on!
    Thanks Tipper,
    PS…I suppose this is our Dogwood Winter! Chilly yesterday and windy. Hope it warms today. Everything is greenin’ up real good!

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