“Louisa had never been grateful for anything, but from Corie she learned gratefulness and thankfulness for all things: dry wood, rain when the spring was low, cold snaps that cured up colds and made a spell for killing hogs, sunshiny days, snowy days (they meant good crops), hard frozen bare ground for it was then that the children did not wet their feet or ruin their shoes. Without being a pessimist Corie expected the worst of all possible combinations in all things, and as a result was eternally grateful for some little thing.”
Harriette Simpson Arnow – Mountain Path
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Pap raised me to look at things in much the same way that Corie did in the book Mountain Path. He always said there’s good in everything if you look hard enough you’ll find it and things could always be worse than they are and all you have to do is look at people and their problems around you and you’ll know that’s true for sure.
I did my best to instill the same sense of gratefulness in my girls. This ole word is full of trials and tribulations, but learning how to be grateful for the little things seems to offer the best buffer against troublesome times.
If you’ve never read Mountain Path you should.
Tipper
If I didn’t feel grateful for many things every day, I don’t want to think what my life would be like. I think I learned a lot about being grateful when I was young, reading books like Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women.
And now I’ve just requested Mountain Path AND Seedtime on the Cumberland from InterLibrary Loan…another thing I am very grateful for đŸ™‚
I only have one thing to say for this – AMEN!!!
God bless.
RB
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For those who don’t know about the Lauada Cemetery, which The Pressley Girls’ concert Saturday will benefit, it is the major resting place for many souls whose original graves are now under the Fontana Reservoir. Lauada Cemetery is a collection of graveyards moved wholly or partially depending on the high water line of the lake and the wishes of the families of those buried there. It is laid out, as much as possible, the same way the graves were arranged in their original graveyards. Descendants of those whose graves were moved there can also be buried there as appropriate space permits.
Many of the people buried and/or reburied there are my relatives and all of them are my friends. I think the The Pressley Girls’ performance is a noble act. I wish I could be there, but I can’t! I would like to donate to the Cemetery fund if someone could let me know how.
Tipper,
You’re the best Mom I know. Like other Moms, you’ve instilled the methods of what it takes to survive in this world. Chitter and Chatter are lucky to have you and Matt, and Christian Values from way back.
Hope you all have a good time on the Square in Hayesville this evening. …Ken
Tipper,
Amen and right on! This was a perfectly timed post. After the day we had yesterday, it was a good reminder to “always look on the bright side” as my Gramma used to say.
PS…..I am grateful for spell check when it is in use on some websites like Tippers. Except when words like “nay and neigh” example are used! For my shutter-step brain misspells so many words anymore…Why yes, I should have spelled “dire straights” dire straits…too late I reread after I posted! Ha
I am grateful for your picture Tipper, triggering my memory of a lot of white clover. Back in the day when you had to be very careful or not, running thru it barefoot. Hoping that one hungry honeybee didn’t have to sacrifice his life because the ball of your foot squashed him to the ground in the clover!
Screaming like a baby, sitting down to pull out its tail end stinger, then limping to the house for some “sodie water paste” to pull out the venom!
Thankful Tipper
Tipper,
Grateful….Well, I think most folks are grateful when their feet hit the floor and are able to stand upright for the day. I don’t think most people really think of it though and Thank their God or Universe for the new day and ability it holds! We are like sheep, a lot of us just follow routine. That is until something grabs us by the shoulders so to speak, gives us a good shake, rattles us, wakes our mind and puts us in perilous thought. That is when a lot of us drop to our knees or look for an outside source and then realize how grateful and blessed we have been.
There is always someone, in more “dire straights”…granny would say this! As a child I really didn’t know what “dire straights” meant! However, I knew if granny said it, it must be a bad situation to be in and I didn’t want to go there! “Be thankful for what you have and can do, we are just so lucky,” she would say!
Thanks Tipper,
Love this post, we would hope that your weekend Is wonderful and the girls have great fun with all their musical “gigs” they will be preforming…Does anyone say “gigs” anymore when referring to a musical schedule?
I went online to see about purchasing the book Mountain pathway, and it is pricey. I may check at the library, but need to wait until Winter to get into reading. We learned much about being thankful in these mountains. I always felt life was a bit harder in so many ways. The one that comes to mind is brakes and tires wear out fast on these winding roads. But the beauty far outweighs the inconvenience.
I have learned through the years to be grateful when there is a close parking space, and easier to shop in the rain because not so many folks out and about. It will be such a blessing when the sun finally starts shining. An older neighbor says he never recalls so much rain. But we can be inside and have shelter from the storms. Yes, this world is full of trials, but right in the middle there can be great joy. There are unexpected blessings that come our way each and every day. I always remember learning that God wont put more on you than you can bare.
So true, Tipper! It’s hard to feel that way in the turmoil of the world today but we do have so much to be thankful for.
No, there is not good in everything. Everything is wholly good! Creation is as perfect as its Creator. Chaos and strife lurk only in the hearts and minds of those who cannot be content with their portion.
Amen Tipper! I am grateful as well.
It seems anytime I start ” stiinking thinking” about something not going right or not feeling real great the good Lord will put someone in my path that has real problems. That is always a wake up call for me to realize my blessings.
Mom and Dad didn’t have many material things to be grateful for until later in life. I’m not sure they taught us kids how to be grateful or if it just came naturally from watching them. Pap was right when he said things could always be worse. I try to think of the challenges others are going through when I find myself complaining of unfair things in my life.
Sure wish I could catch one of the shows the girls will be playing this weekend.
Tipper–Oddly enough, just yesterday I was chatting with a woman who has a loved one in a local nursing home. She referred to a recent article of mine in the local newspaper carrying the title “The Magic of May.” It was written somewhat after the style of John Parris with a longish list of things that make May magical.
Her point, and it was a delightful, thoughtful one, is that every day she tries, never mind considerable trials in her personal life, to find things for which she should be grateful and to remember to share a sense of gratitude with others. There’s a message there for all of us, one you’ve just reinforced. We may not always see the blessings, but as the wonderful old song written by W. A. Fletcher, “Farther Along,” reminds us, those blessings are there and in abundance.
Jim Casada
I’m grateful for my good wife of 50 years, thankful for my Appalachian heritage, thankful that I will see my loved ones again on the other side,but I’m like the old song, Everbody wants to go to Heaven but nobody wants to die.
I’m grateful for my good wife of 50 years, thankful for my Appalachian heritage, thankful that I will see my loved ones again on the other side,but I’m like the old song, Everbody wants to go to Heaven but nobody wants to die.
I’m grateful for my good wife of 50 years, thankful for my Appalachian heritage, thankful that I will see my loved ones again on the other side,but I’m like the old song, Everbody wants to go to Heaven but nobody wants to die.
I’m grateful for my good wife of 50 years, thankful for my Appalachian heritage, thankful that I will see my loved ones again on the other side,but I’m like the old song, Everbody wants to go to Heaven but nobody wants to die.
Truer words were never spoken. Thank you. Vann
Tip, I was not raised with gratefulness as you were however I have learned gratefulness from this life. I have many things that I am grateful for and you are the very top of my list!
I’ve been noticing the recently cut hay fields here as I travel to town . One day I see the green hay fields being cut. The next day or so I see the golden fields like your picture. Then in another day or so I see the machines wrapping the hay up into big round golden bales. As I admired those fields filled with the big round bales I think…”I bet Tipper will take a picture of those big golden bales so pretty in the sunshine!”