Jerry and Pap – Life long friends
“We mountain people are the product of our history and the beliefs and outlook of our foreparents. We are a traditional people, and in our rural setting we valued the things of the past. More than most people, we avoided mainstream life and thus became self-reliant. We sought freedom from entanglements and cherished solitude. All of this was both our strength and our undoing.”
~Appalachian Values -Loyal Jones
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Tipper
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Beautiful!!!
Prayers for all who seek peace and solitude through separatism, that society never encroaches upon them.
God bless.
RB
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I love this picture.It reminds me of the house I grew up in,way up in a holler in Harlan Co.,Ky.The tar paper siding,the dog in the yard,though Dad had many.Poor things,don’t don’t how they lived,all they got was table scraps.I still miss the solitude,have never got use to neighbors right outside my front door and I’ve been gone for 50 years.
Tipper,
Lifelong friends are not replaceable. I’ve known Monte Kit since I was about 5 or 6 and that was more than 60 years ago. I appreciate him and all the times we’ve shared in these Mountains. Although we were apart for some time, when we got back together, it was just like “old times.” The picture of Jerry and Pap, with the dog laying there listening, is a cherished one. …Ken
Tipper:
You ‘touched the heart of the matter’ in your post today with the LIFE LONG FRIENDS topic you addressed! Recently when we attended my brother’s funeral, I did not want to imagine not having him in my life any more. I have five brothers and five sisters. But for me, he was the sweetest! He served in TWO ROTATIONS in the Vietnam WAR!
When he came to Knoxville for induction in the ARMY, he called me! I got my three year old son in the car and made a bee line to the induction Center, to pick up Donald and TAKE HIM TO LUNCH IN KNOXVILLE!I When Donald returned from lunch to the Induction Center, the OFFICER IN CHARGE WAS FURIOUS! He just about put Donald in DETENTION!
I do not include a lot of information about Donald in my “Fiddler of the Mountains” book. But if I EVER write another mountain family history book, it will include a lot of details of life in the Matheson Cove and especially about “MY BELOVED BROTHER, DONALD ROGER MULL” as he is MY HERO!
Eva Nell
That first sentence is so true. It’s hard to take my eyes off that picture. I can see my daddy and his best friend with their hands in their pockets and standing around enjoying each others company.
This makes me both proud and sad. Proud that I do belong to such a traditional way of life that includes not just my own family but also all of you who share these mountain values. Sad because, living off all these years, I’ve lost touch with all my old friends.
But, I’m at home this weekend and I’m going to the gun show at the county fair grounds with my brother. There is a lesson, there, I try to impart to my kids. Although a pain at times, siblings are the best friends you’ll ever have.
As with many things, there are two sides…a good and a bad. Thanks for sharing.
I love the photo of two friends and Pap’s double flannel shirts are the best; I love flannel shirts!!!
The house in the background reminds me of my grandparents home. My granddaddy and my uncle build it. The porch columns were logs stripped of their bark…pretty cool!
Those two men are having a B.O.G.S.A.T. meeting. That’s short for “bunch of guys standing around a truck”. Usually there’s more than two and most of them will be leaning on the truck.
You all remember the “Been farmin’ long?” poster with the two little blond boys? Someone else did the same pose with two gray-haired men. Your picture reminds me of both of those and yet it is a story of its own. I think you have an eye for picture composition. This one is like a country song, it is all there; old friends, the pickup, the dog, the old house. To some of us, it just says “home folks”.
I notice the house has what we called ‘brick siding’. It was common when I was a boy but rare nowadays. My Grandma’s old house was covered with it.
That does very well describe the mountain people both our strength and our undoing.
I love the picture!
The mountains are truly a spiritual thing. Once you have lived the life it will always be a part of you.
No matter where you go or what you do the mountains bring back emotions
and memories . Just driving thru can trigger so much for me.
Visiting a large city may be exciting for a day or two but coming home is a wonderful feeling of peace.
This photo of Pap with his friend says so much! It is common for menfolk to gather at their trucks talking or “shootin the breeze.” We can always find our favorite dog lying somewhere nearby. If Norman Rockwell had painted in our appalachian mountains he would have surely painted this very picture. Sometimes your photos live up to the saying that a picture is worth a thousand words.
I follow your posts regularly and enjoy them so! As I look at your pictures I see my past, my father, his brothers, my grandmother’s home, my heritage. I’ve lived in Indiana for many years and yet understand the language of the mountains well. It has never left me and I moved to Indiana at age 11 years. I’m thankful for my in particular the spiritual heritage I carried with me from Dingus Memorial Baptist Church in Dante, Virginia, and the many wonderful memories of playing in and on the mountains. Again I thank you for all your “gatherings.” They truly enrich my life.
Blessings to all of your family,
Shelia Henning