Things are looking mighty different in Wilson Holler. The work of beating back the woods to allow more sunshine on the big garden is continuing.
While the crew is here they’re going to take out some towering pine trees that are hanging precariously on the bank above the house Chatter and Austin hope to buy. They started on that section today. Many of the trees are actually brushing against power lines so the going is slow as they make sure not to take out the electricity with the trees. But they are making good progress and I’m thinking they’ll be done before week’s end.
As you might imagine we’ve made dozens of trips up and down our driveway to watch the progress. On one of the trips I happened to look over in a little set of woods and see the pink chair in the photo at the top of this post.
Our niece April is almost exactly a year younger than Chatter and Chitter. They were inseparable when they were growing up.
Their favorite pastime was building elaborate playhouses throughout the holler.
They loved playing at Granny and Pap’s. There are still sheets hanging in the basement from when they hid from the hot summer sun and played in the damp coolness.
Granny would let them totally enclose her back porch with sheets and then there was always tee-pees to make with Pap’s old bean stakes.
I remember when Granny bought the little pink chair in the photo. There were several yellow ones too. The girls would sit in them in Pap and Granny’s backyard while they giggled, planned what to play, and indulged in the ice cream Granny always had in the freezer.
The forgotten chair looks awful lonesome. Thinking of the day the girls turned their back on that playhouse and left the chair where it sat for more grownup things makes me feel bittersweet.
Yet along with the sadness is happy excitement for two boys who will play in the woods and fill our lives with laughter and love.
Tipper
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ohh you gotta get that chair and set it in Granny’s basement with them sheets so the boys can “carry on” the fun of making tents and tee pees making more memories with those same items.
Such sweet memories as well as joys to come and I am glad y’all are getting the trees down to let the sunshine in. I am excited for y’all too looking forward to your new, old corn field.
Reading your post here added happiness to my day (my Birthday)! A day home from work to enjoy 🙂
Happy Birthday Allison!
Oh my goodness, you lift my heart. It makes me think back on my old childhood memories. I’m 60 years old. If my dad were alive, he would turn 100 on Saturday!!! Can’t even believe it!!!
What a precious memory to find in the woods and what a promise of joys to come! Thanks for sharing this with us! Much love from SC, Jane
One of the simplest joys of my boyhood was building lean-tos down by the creek in the pasture with my cousin. We’d make a small campfire in front of it, and when there was nothing left but a bed of hot coals, we’d bake a couple of potatoes and roast some weiners. We called it camping, but many times we’d drown the fire around 10 or 11 o’clock and go home. On some summer nights, we would stretch out in our lean-to, on a tarp or something, and sleep under a blanket.
What a sweet memory to find in the woods!!!!! This post takes me back at least 60 years to when I would play outside for hours. One distinct memory, is from when I was a little girl and visited my paternal grandparents, who, lived in a very old house that sat on the side of a sloping field. The slope of the field made it possible to walk under one side of the house. It was a very large area that could have been made into an enclosed basement, but my grandparents never wanted to spend the money. Instead, my grandfather used it as an open storage area and allowed my cousins and me to play in one corner of the area. We had old some old pots and pans and kitchen utensils and my grandfather built is a play stove. We made mud pies and rock soup for hours on end!!! I can close my eyes and still smell the way it always smelled under that old house— between the dampness and the smell of the wet mud pies!!! we would pull weeds for flowers and use anything we could find to make our little playhouse area under that old house.
My only Grandson and his beautiful wife will soon have their 3rd son, the 3rd week of March , if not before, and they are saying last one. The first two, our great of our grands, are such sweet boys, but definitely boys. We live approximately 650 miles from them and are missing them every day and then some. So all of you who can be near their little ones enjoy, love, hold and remember all that they do and see. I regret being so far, but I believe God had us where he wants us to be. Katie’s baby will be here around the same time as our baby, I’m guessing, I pray they both have an easy time of birthing their precious gifts. And we will be able to hold, hug and give some sugar to them, at least for a little while, And never forget any time spent with them. At 77 time is of the essence. Again a great BP&A blog. You are an expert at inducing memories and thoughts of things to come. Thank you Tipper and all your associates there. God bless, Jennifer
The simple things in life make the sweetest memories, but we are unaware of that at the time of their making. As adults, sometimes we can feel like we need to make a ‘fort’ of blankets and sheets, to just get away from the noise, hustle and bustle of our world – make a return to simpler times of childhood for a spell. I am excited for you all, at the new memories you all will make with those sweet little boys when they arrive. Blessing to each one of you and yours.
Oh, what sweet memories! I just love that picture. I also wonder how many times we’ve help make forts through the years and still get asked to help make one every now and then inside with kitchen chairs covered with blankets or sheets. Simple, but so much fun. I am praying that Chatter and Austin’s house will sell soon and those little boys will get to grow up together in Wilson Holler. That would be wonderful!!
When I was young
I never thought
That I would grow old.
My mind was full of
Playing hooky and
Hiding in the woods of dancing through grassy
Fields and building dams
In cold sparkling streams
And skinny-dipping
My hands were busy
Playing Indian with
Home-made bows and
And arrows
Or skipping rocks across
Still cool ponds, and
Building forts and
Teepees with half-rotten
Logs.
My feet were
Hard from thousands
of steps , yet cool with
Soft rich mountain mud
Squished between
young toes.
But now I am old Watching
My grandchildren play
While memories
Dance in my mind
Tipper love the story of the little pink chair and the girls playing in the holler brings back so many good memories of my childhood! I hope Granny is doing ok! I still have her on my prayer list!
It’s getting close for you and Matt to become grandparents. I know you all are excited! I pray every goes well for Chitter and Chatter.
Love to all
Joanna
THE CHAIR wasn’t forgotten, look at the memories that poured from your fingers and your Heart
There’s a tree in my yard no one has been able to identify, yet many have guessed and marveled at it’s beauty. It used to be ornamental-like with a twisted trunk and umbrella shaped limbs before my grandsons discovered they could climb and hide under it’s canopy. The unhealthy tree has lost over half of it’s limbs since I moved here thirty four years ago. I dread the day when I lose the tree that holds precious memories of five little boys acting like monkeys.
As the eldest and one to enjoy alone, quiet time, the woods and fields has always been a place I found joy & center of peace. In one tiny holler, I found a patch of strawberries. Not many and not large but a pleasant treat in summer.
Glad to hear all of your work is coming along well and you’re getting ready for the big garden. I’m working on my containers still, but work and other commitments has slowed me down a bit more than I like, but I’ll get there before it’s time to set out plants. And yes, time is such a thief when looking back at things with children. While mine are still young and just entering their teen years, I’m already feeling the effects and seeing the changes in the way they play and have fun. We just redid the girl child’s room, and she’s a ferocious ‘tween’ at the moment with sass and attitude and opinions on everything! She’s given up her big ol’ dollhouse and all of its furniture to my cousin’s girls that live behind us and so many other toys and play things to her younger cousins. The boy child did some of the same things a few months back when cleaning out his room and rearranging, but he’s more sentimental and still wanted to hold on to some things…notably his Tonka truck that used to also be mine. I accepted these things much easier with him than her, likely ’cause she’s “the baby.” That country song from Tracy Lawrence from back in the 90s is right– “Time Marches On.” We just have to roll with the changes and look forward to all of the new adventures! You guys definitely will have some new blessings and adventures to come about soon, and I bet the holler will be alive with fun and playful imaginations again real soon!
Tipper, what date is it you will be in Ringgold, Ga and where at. We live on Signal Mtn, TN and want to come see and meet you. Please email me so I will be sure and see it. Already got your cookbook. Has some great recipes!!
Thank you
The one thing about being grandparents is that you have more time to enjoy your grandchildren. When my three were growing up I worked as a nurse and things were hectic and rushed. I have pictures of them, but my time was limited to play games and watch them grow. So, when my grandchildren came, I decided to spend time with them and I was able to help my daughter and sil raise my grandson, who is 18 1/2 yo now. They lived in Lynchburg and I lived in Charlottesville but every week for the first four months of his life I drove down to Lynchburg and stayed with him a few days while his parents worked. After four months my husband and I would keep him every week for sometimes up to a week. I have so many memories of the good times we had together. I even started his potty training. I had a little wooden rocker that he sat in and is a reminder of the times we had together. Today he is busy with college, girls and other interests but I still see him every week at church or at home. We moved to the Lynchburg area after retirement to be near my daughter and her family. Now my younger son and his family live here too. My oldest son plans to move here also. Memories come in pink chairs, wooden rockers, toy trucks and in many other ways. I thank God for my children and grandchildren. May God bless you and Matt. Good times are coming.
Amen to your sentiments about the chair, Tipper! At some point, there was a “last time” for everything our little ones did. Sigh……then later, a last time for something our elders did. But oh the JOY that comes with new life! It blows the mullugrubs away as we watch for each new accomplishment of the little ones again!
Laurel and ivy make a kid-sized forest. And they are good hiding places. Throw in a singing stream and it is no wonder the three Indian princesses made their houses there. I think most every parent with grown children know the bittersweet. Most of us have them home for such a short time. I miss those days.
I love seeing things that make me remember too. Yes, we have chairs, pedal tractors, tricycles, and model tractors still hanging around too. I cannot let them go. Our son is 43 but I still remember him as a little boy playing with all his toys. Nothing wrong with that. Love and prayers to Granny and Little Mamas and all of you too.
Yesterday was March Forth! A day to remember Kenneth Roper and I missed it.
Papaw-I thought about Ken and even debated on writing about him and his mother’s declaration of March Forth 🙂
I didn’t even realize what day it was until I looked this morning and it is March 5th. That happens more often as time slips away. I guess that’s part of getting old. Getting old is the best option though, considering there is only one alternative.
My prayer this morning is that the Lord will extend Granny’s days so the two little boys can make memories like these with her as they play around Wilson Holler. “May mercy, peace and love be multiplied to you (all).” Jude 1:2
Amen!
I love the photo of the pink chair in the woods just waiting for another child. My last child and first grandchild were born two months apart, and both had plastic chairs- one red and one blue, and they hauled those little chairs around the house and outdoors. Your photo stirs such wonderful memories.
You can tell when our grandchildren are here because our front porch is usually covered with sheets and blankets tied on the railings and hanging over tables and chairs—creating forts to hide and play in. They also like to use giant cardboard boxes, which they draw and color on and then have Pap to cut out windows and doors. We hope to build a tree/playhouse this summer—before they all get any older. Our kids had one when they were young. It was given to them after their older cousin was grown, so it was well used—and by the time our kids grew up, it needed to be torn down—fun times and good memories.
Those are some sweet memories, Tipper. Love the picture of the pink forgotten chair.
I like the old memories and loyalty to the past. These days of the new things coming are such a blessing. You will have the gift of grand children. We live in such a world that old ways are not only thought of as good, it’s like you live in a place time forgot, a place protected. Be grateful for what you have.
Tipper, even in the changes for the better I see all the love and fondness you have for your home place and a mind chock full of beautiful memories of little children playing and now those same little sweet faces will bring their little ones to grandma and grandpa for love, spoiling, sweet memories and when those “grown men” look back in years to come, they too will have the sweetest memories of their childhood to always warm their hearts and souls no matter what life may throw their ways! In all my life I love my grandparents best and feel they were my greatest blessing besides my children who’ve run off and left me for their dreams in MEXICO-not Missouri.
I love this post.
I have four children. My youngest son was born when my oldest son was 14. All of his old things were new again. It’s so sweet.
My work day starts a 4:00 am, 5:00 where you live. Usually on my break time I get a few minuets to read The Blind Pig and the Acorn. Having grown up in a small town in the south, your stories prompt so many memories. Although, not in the mountains, not even in the hills; I, can recall so many instances where similar things happened as I was growing up. My parents were both hardworking people who hailed from country stock, we didn’t have much in the way of material things; but one thing we had an abundance of was love. You, Matt, Granny, Chitter, Chatter, Austen, and soon to be the boy’s; all exemplify the same. The world could use more families like yours. God Bless.
James-thank you for the kind words!!
James, I can say the same about how I was raised and my family. My wife was raised in the same type of family. Daddy, my father in law and me did many things together. My Daddy passed away on Jan. 20, 1991. My father in law not only filled in for him but was my best friend and I loved my mother in law. I hope and picture Tipper and Matt having this same relationship with Austin. My wife-girlfriend at the time, once ask me “did you come to see Daddy, or me?
Praying their house sells soon so they can move before baby boy comes. So much excitement going on around your place. I hope Granny is doing okay. I’d sure love to see her more often, but I understand she may not want to be on video.
God bless ya’ll and protect the guys with all the tree cutting.
I remember playing like that when I was little. my boys would build forts out of just about anything. My daughter the youngest never quite grasped shewasn’t a boy too played right along. Sweet memories
Such memories and such a family to share them with. I can just imagine the two new ‘boys’ will be almost like Chitter and Chatter when they were growing up…starting to read, walk, school and then on to proms, etc. Your family is so envied by a lot of ‘us readers’. Prayers for Granny and God Bless you all
I do hope Chatter and Austin sell their home so they can be in Wilson Holler. You have such sweet memories it’s no wonder you never want to leave.
April was my daughter’s name. We still have many toys or other things that either belonged to my children or grandchildren. When I see them, I remember when they young and the happiness these things brought to them and the joy my children and grandchildren brought/bring to us, now only me. Many would say throw these things/toys away, but that will not happen as long as I am alive.