Appalachia is home

The Lands of Home-Again

Far away the birds fly toward the forest’s quiet vales;
Above the fields the mountains rise in blue crests.
Choestoe Creek runs over shoals, murmurs and hails
The leaves that drop quietly from above hidden nests
That rest on limbs outstretched above the stream.
This scene is real, a paradise, not some wild dream.
Go with me there, to the land of home-again,
Where we will quietly and slowly regain
Perspective for the years that yet remain.

Ethelene Dyer Jones 2014

——————

Last week the Blind Pig family spent an enjoyable week at the beach. There was lots of sunshine, sparkling waves to run in, gritty sand to invade every crack and crevice, laughter to share, shark teeth to find, and sea shells to gather.

We had beautiful weather for our trip-even though Pap said it rained every day we were gone here in Brasstown. There was one humdinger of a storm while we were there.

Having never experienced a severe thunderstorm on the ocean front the girls convinced themselves we were all going to die. As I looked out at the low hanging black clouds-so low I swear we could reach out to touch them-I felt their fear. But once I looked around and noticed no one else was in a panic I decided that must just be how storms look without mountains to interfere with their progress.

The trip was a good one full of memories we’ll never forget like the little boy, Hudson, and his family who set in front of us and entertained us on the beach each day without even knowing they were. But my was it a good to see our far blue mountains come into view on the trip home. I’m not sure which of us welcomed their sight more.

Almost getting teary eyed at the mountains’ stance on the distant horizon I was reminded of Ethelene’s poem and longed to be sitting in my little cramped office so that I could read it again and wonder over how wonderfully intertwined the land becomes with those who live in it fully.

Tipper

 

 

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16 Comments

  1. What a beautiful picture, account of your trip to the beach, and joy at returning home to the mountains. I was pleasantly surprised to see my poem posted today, and was (unlike most days when I access soon after 7 a. m.) late today visiting “Blind Pig.” I’m very glad I did. Needless to say, now that I don’t live in “my” beloved mountains, I can hardly wait to revisit, and “my heart leaps up” when I get the first glimpse through the car’s windshield of the horizon ahead with undulating blue hills stretched against azure sky! Thanks, all of you readers, for the good words! Wherever home is, there rests the heart!

  2. If you went away for a week, I feel confident that you are confident that Pap is OK. That’s not to say that he will not continue to be in my prayers.

  3. I spent 35 years living within 2 miles of the Atlantic Ocean. It is beautiful, but I never felt the peace that I feel in the Blue Ridge of NC. I was born and raised in East Tennessee and now live in Western NC and hope that this is where I end my days on earth.

  4. My wife and I are always happy to see the mountains of home through the windshield when we have been south to the coast. The ocean is beuatiful in its own way but the mountains are home and they bekon me back when I’m away. It’s where I belong and feel at ease. I hope you had a great vacation. I’m sure Pap held down the fort while you were away. I’m happy to hear his health is improving.

  5. Tipper,
    I love Ethelene’s account of how
    she sees our beautiful Mountains.
    She really has a way with words,
    kinda like Jim Casada’s memories
    of his Uncle Joe.
    Your perspective on ‘coming home’
    is the way I feel every time I go
    away from these Mountains…Ken

  6. Which beach did you go to? Eight people along the Carolina’s beaches have found sharks teeth with the sharks still attached. Or better stated, eight sharks found people! Two teenagers lost limbs but so far everyone has survived.
    The last time we went to the coast, we went to Wilmington and toured the USS North Carolina. I own part of that battleship, you know. I remember back in the late 50’s and early 60’s when the school children of North Carolina collected nickels and dimes to “Save Our Ship.” I told them I was a co-owner but I still had to pay the admission fee.

  7. Mountains are beaautiful, but the sea always called to me. Served in eight warships during my thirty year Navy career. I now live on the side of a hill where I sit on my rear patio and look out over the Pacific Ocean. Sometimes I see a ship departing Pearl Harbor and wish I was aboard.

  8. The beach is nice, but one day seems enough for me. I guess I must be a true mountain woman. The ocean, the sand, and the tsnned bodies seem much like the movie “Groundhog Day” for me. Whereas these beautiful mountains have a different view around every curve in the road. As you look around and see Mallards and other critters trying to raise their young right in your neighborhood–well, it is just an amazing place to live. If not in the mountains, I just run around slightly homesick with a brave smile. Hunting shells was the best experience.
    Your beautiful picture could easily be one of the highways that bring me back home. Home is so beautifully described by Ethelene Dyer Jones. The Lands of Home are truly breathtaking yet comforting.

  9. There’s nothing like returning to the comforts of home. Yes, the storms over the beach can be ominous and scary. However, it was a good lesson in being in a different place, a new learning experience. I enjoyed, also, Ethelene’s words of home.

  10. The beach is OK, and it’s good to go there every now and then to further appreciate the grandeur of the mountains. After all, the beach is only ground up mountains washed to the sea shore.

  11. This reminds me of your post ‘I Could Be a Hermit’ and stirs the same thoughts and feelings I had then.
    I really like the picture. I’m partial to road and trail pictures because they are – to me anyway – thought-provoking but each person may think differently. I can relate to the mountains on the horizon as saying ‘almost home’. I feel a little guilty about it, but I sure do hope there are mountains in heaven; the blue kind with lots of trees. But I think it will be the place that is completely ‘home’ no matter what it looks like.
    We tended to take the kids to the beach in summer. We had some very good trips and built good memories that we treasure but if I had to choose between the mountains or the sea ….. I’d choose mountains.

  12. Tipper: Thanks for your ‘meaningful’ analysis of GOING HOME! So glad your beach experience was exciting. NOW I am going to do my BEST to be ‘on the SQUARE’ for that wonderful performance of those beautiful Pressley girls.
    See you then!
    Eva Nell

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