Never Alone

 Sometimes things seem to painful to bare,

 so many memories that you don't want to share.
Humbled by things that's silenced your voice,
 powered by things when given no choice. The path that you're walking you feel all alone,
 I'm here to tell you, your feelings are wrong,
the Creator of all still walks with you,
at the worst of times He will carry you through.
 

LG Vaughn 

Seasonal Depression or Not??

I have always heard the term seasonal depression. I don't know if that is what I have during the autumn months but it comes back year after year. It's a feeling of missing someone or something that is just out of reach. I also have a longing to revisit my childhood. I wonder if  I associate this time of year with being a child and knowing that a long winter is coming. I will once again have to put shoes on my feet and stay inside while the cold weather makes its way through before spring arrives. Spring means playing in the fields and woods and visiting with all of the neighbor children. Then we would walk each other home after a long day of play, tired and never bored.

Waking up with a chill in the air brings back childhood memories. Growing up in the Appalachians wasn't easy. We lived with the bare minimum, no running water, no inside bathrooms. My father was fortunate enough to have a job at one of the few places in the county that employed men. Walter Dimensions was a lumber plant that made tongue and groove pieces. If you were lucky enough to own a pick up truck (which my father did) you could put your name in rotation for a free truck load of end pieces to sell for kindling wood. At that time it was in high demand. If I remember correctly he sold it for $6.00 per delivered load. That was a good boost to a weekly income of $36.00, that he was raising 3 children with. My father lacked in public education due to quitting school at the age of 12. He went to work on a farm, his mother, a widow, raising 9 children during the depression needed help. He was a good honest man that was well liked and respected by all that knew him. He was a man of few words, so when he did speak we listened. He was a Christian man and seen that we got to church every Sunday. I have so many wonderful memories of him.

My mother was a stay at home mom. Sounds good, right? She got up at 4am to build a fire in the cooking stove (pre-heat the oven) She made home cooked breakfast to send us off with everyday. We raised chickens so eggs were plentiful. She always packed my father some kind of lunch to take with him and then get us children up and ready to catch the school bus. During the summer she worked in the garden and put up vegetables to get us through the winter. She also would dry apples for pies. There was laundry to do on an old wringer washing machine. We caught water in rain barrels to wash clothes in and for bathing. Mama would melt snow on top of the stove to substitute for the rain that didn't come in the winter months.

Our house was so cold. Mama would sometimes wrap a blanket/quilt around the old pot bellied heating stove to warm it, then she would wrap me up in it and tuck me into the feather bed. I would stay warm and snug all night, with so many covers on me that I could barely move. I remember a crack in the bedroom that we stuffed rags in to keep the snow from blowing in. But I was fed, safe and loved.... with the innocence of a child I slept, not knowing that down the road there was a little girl being molested or that a family up the road was consumed with heartbreak because of the fighting and turmoil inside their home. Maybe it's the innocence of a child that I am longing for. Whatever it is, it is out of my reach.

Time to come back to my reality. I am going to make a list. A list of all the things that I need to do this fall and winter. Then I will check them off one at a time. Yes.....yes, that is what I am going to do. When spring comes once again, all of my work will be done and it will be time to go outside and just enjoy the weather! Yes....yes it will!

LGV

Searching (Romans 1:20)

Since the creation of the world His attributes are clearly seen
Just like He lit the day with sun rays and the night with moon beams
We all have a purpose, a reason we're here
It was all planned and carefully made clear
He has provided us a way to survive and to live
If we seek Him first, many blessings He'll give
So many people search and never find what their looking for
They need a new life, a new home, a new car and more.....
But what their looking for is not hidden at all
Just take a walk outside one day in the fall
Breathe deeply and look at the colors red, yellow and brown
His creation and love are scattered all around
If you seek Him first, just like He said so kind
Within Him all the happiness you'll find
Then you will wonder why you let all of that time go by
Searching for something and trying to satisfy
Your need to give your life to our Father above
And let Him shape and guide you in His tender love....

                                                                    L.G.V.

Tennessee (A Piece Of My Heart)

I have decided to do a picture post about Jamestown, Tennessee, it is my hometown and located in Fentress County. My friends know that I was big on collecting Native American artifacts from the rock houses. Some of them have no idea what a rock house is or what they look like. So I was happy to find some good pictures of them to post. Tennessee has some of the most beautiful country there is. Since I have been living in Indiana that is what I miss most. The land up here is flat and all that you see are fields of corn, soybeans etc. When I go back to Tennessee it feels like the mountains are hugging me and no matter how far I go and how long I stay gone, Tennessee will always be my home.

               





Fentress County Courthouse population approx. 18,000





Old Depot Bldg. for the O&W railroad, it stopped running in 1954





Old Fentress County Jail National Registry of Historic places has it well over
100 yrs. old. It now houses "Ye Olde Jail Museum"



Fentress County Courthouse



Jordon Motel has been there as long as I can remember





Leonard Anderson a local story teller and singer.
You might see this anywhere in the county.






The first settlers used oxen to pull their logs to the river.
They would float the logs along the river to market them. 



Main St. Jamestown, TN





Sand Spring is now a city park in Jamestown, TN.
Mark Twain's parents use to get their water here from this spring.






Sgt. York donated land to build this school on. I attended high school there.
Now there is a new high school located next to this one.

Next is pictures of the rock housed or bluffs. They still contain Native American artifacts if you look hard enough.

                                                                     Rock Houses

On the inside looking out!

This one is located on state land inside Picket State Park but look at the kind
of vehicles that had to have to get back to it.

Nature walks is one of my favorite things to do. Nothing is more beautiful or serene that the forests in Tennessee. So I've posted a few pictures to show what you might see along the trails.

                                                             



Overlooking the gorge



Northup Falls is located in Colditz Cove,
I use to live near it. It plunges 60 ft over a rock ledge
down into a narrow gorge. The Woodland Indians once
used the rock houses near the falls and along the creek
gorge for shelter. The area is now maintained by the state
"Colditz Cove State Natural Area" I use to hike there regularly.

It's common to see these old home places.

Rock formation along the trail.



You might run across something like this, they were commonly called a crib.



Overlook behind Jordon Motel on the Eastfork riding trails.

Black eyed Susan's





Milk Weed wildflowers

Mountain Laurel growing wild.



Natural Bridge at Pickett State Park





Another view of Northup Falls

Some more shots over looking the gorge

Overlooking Rock Castle




Not my favorite thing to walk up on but they are there. The common name for
this one is the "water snake." I would much rather it be this one than a
rattlesnake or a copperhead which are both widespread in the area.

I've only seen one but their population is increasing and they are being
seen quite frequently now.

Wildflower called the Passion flower

Tennessee Mountains

Alvin C York was well known as World War I hero. After returning from the war he did a lot to help our county. He was from a northern section of Fentress County know as Pall Mall, TN. Which now is the home of the Alvin C York Park in his honor. His home place and burial place are both located there.

 

Gary Cooper played the Sgt York in the movie made about him.

Burial place of Sgt.York in the Wolf River Cemetery

Swinging bridge that crosses Wolf River behind his house.

Alvin C York also built York Bible Institute it never really did get took off.
The building still stands in Pall Mall, TN.

A different shot of Sgt. York's burial place

Alvin C York's home place

York Grist Mill located in York Park in Pall Mall, TN

A different shot of York Grist Mill located in York Park, Pall Mall, TN




For more information about Sgt. Alvin C York follow the link below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_C._York

                                                                         L.G.V.