{this moment}
A Friday ritual.
A single photo – no words – capturing a single moment from the week.
A simple, special extraordinary moment.
A moment to pause, savor and remember.
Participating with the SouleMama blog.
{this moment}
Tag: family
Sunday Muse
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| Dixon and Long families at the Cliffs; Grandma 3rd from left, back row |
“The men and women and children who live in Appalachia have no sourness about them and though they are shy toward outsiders, they will wave to you if you drive by in your car whether they know your face or not. Most would probably rather not meet anyone new, but once they are used to you, you will find them bringing you bags of tomatoes from their gardens and sometimes a cherry cobbler. Most of them are thinkers, because these mountains inspire that, but they could never find the words to tell you of these thoughts they have. They talk to you of their corn or their cows instead and they keep the thoughts to themselves.”
— from ‘Appalachia – The Voices of Sleeping Birds’ by Cynthia Rylant
Fairy Lace
When I got up this morning guess what I found
Frilly lace doilies all over the ground.
Some call them cobwebs but they are not that to me
They are lace doilies made by the fairies and left there you see.
Frilly lace doilies, oh hasten to see
Frilly lace doilies made especially for me.
Their midsummer social was held on my lawn
They danced by the light of the firefly till dawn
And in their haste to leave before light
They left all their napkins behind in their flight.
Frilly lace doilies that’s what I found.
Frilly lace doilies all over the ground.
I believe they were left there as thanks to me,
For the use of my lawn, I’m Irish you see.
No lovelier lace can be found
Than made by the fairies and left on the ground.
Frilly lace doilies, oh hasten to see
Frilly lace doilies made especially for me.
— by Lena Gertrude Dixon Wiles, our grandmother
Fairy stories were often told to us by our grandmother while we were growing up.
We still believe 🙂
The Month of Thanksgiving – Day Thirty
For those who came before us, we are truly grateful!
As this month ends, we are giving thanks for the four generations of our family that have made this farm our home.
(1) Andrew and Amy moved from Greene County, Pennsylvania to our farm in 1890. They were in their 60’s when they came . Grandmother Amy, who was always frail, came in her buggy, with her beautiful buggy horse.
(2) David and Hannah were married only about a year when they came along with Grandfather Andrew and Grandmother Amy. They moved from Pennsylvania in wagons, driving their cattle along with them.
(3) Lena and Cecil Ray, Grandma and Poppy
(4) Robert and Dorthy, our Dad and Mom
The Month of Thanksgiving – Fifteen
MT. OLIVET
Upon the hill so bright and clear
Stands the church we love so dear
The church was founded by our fathers fifty years ago
There it stands upon the hill beat by rain and snow
Every Sunday rain or shine, we went through the door
To attend Sunday School alike for rich and poor
And in our early childhood, each and every lad and lass
Did not want to grow so old we had to leave Miss Eva’s class
But when we became reconciled to our older fate
We had Aunt Bertha for our teacher and thought that she was great
As we grew to man and womanhood all our interests still
Centered around the little church that stands upon the hill
Some had left us, how we missed them, when we met to pray
For now they rest in God’s acre just across the way
In World War One, our young men were called to go
To fight for their country against the foreign foe
When the war was over most of them came home
Got married, settled down never more to roam
Now their children run over farm and shout at will
But on Sunday come to worship in the church upon the hill
Lots left the hill and country and scattered all around
On farms, in villages, cities and in many little towns
From Baltimore to San Francisco from Maine to Florida
You can find Mt. Olivet’s children all along the way
I believe that looking back upon their childhood still
Their thoughts will return with longing for the church upon the hill
Years rolled swiftly by, our children all are grown
And like the birds of the air some from the home have flown
Our sons were called to fight in World War Two
And many were the heartaches felt by me and you
They were in all of Europe, some in Africa
Many they left behind them when they came away
Others were in the Pacific zone and helped to take Japan
I think that we can always say, “They do the best they can.”
But God was with Mt. Olivet’s boys, each and every one
He brought them safely home again, when the war was won.
Now again they are answering to our country’s call
And we pray that God in heaven will not let them fall
But bring them all home safely, if it is his will,
To worship once again in the church upon the hill.
When our work here on earth is o’er
And we make our last trip through the door
Across the road to the cemetery fair
For our last sleep with kinfolks there
May our children and their children too
Take up the work with love to do
The Master’s will and carry through
For fifty years or more
Written in 1950 by our grandmother, Lena Gertrude Dixon Wiles, to celebrate the 50th birthday of Mt. Olivet, our family church.
Blackberry Time
We are really enjoying the blackberries that have ripened in the last few weeks. We are enjoying not so much the fact that this means summer is almost over.
However, the picking of blackberries always brings this family story about our Great-Grandmother, Hannah, to mind (told here in the words of our Great-Aunt Florence, her daughter).
“One summer my mother went alone to pick blackberries in the back field quite a distance from the house. She was busy picking when she heard a grunting and snorting noise in the thick bushes. She said, ‘You can’t scare me Dave, I know it’s you.’ She finished filling her buckets and came home. But when she got there, my father, probably reading, had never left the house! They later found signs where a bear had been staying around there, eating blackberries, of which they are very fond.”
This story was told often when we were growing up, and we never fail to think of it and share it once again, whenever it is blackberry time.
(Honestly… whenever we find a large patch of blackberries… we are always on the lookout for a bear.)
Our Fabulous Fourth
Our 4th of July celebration was full of fabulous food, family and fun! Our son/nephew got married in our 109-year-old family church, followed by a wonderful reception in the hayfield.
Congratulations Neil and Darinda!