Thoughts and Feelings

Not sure what this will be about, but I just spent a few moments reading some of MichelleMarie’s posts in http://tellmeaboutit.wordpress.com and as always she inspired me.  Now my mind is filled with memories and feelings from so long ago I can’t even remember when they all happened.  So I have put a few photos in here, the ones of the daffodils taken this past spring of one of the gentle hills on one of the farms.  Each spring those hills are all filled with the sweet smelling daffodils which come back year after year.  They were one of the first sights to greet me when I moved to the farm as a new bride in 1964.

The woods are always filled with redbud and dogwood trees, not as many now after so much of the wooded area has been cleared out, but at the time I lived out there they were filled with beauty.  The air was filled with the song of birds and the lowing of the cattle that were run on this part of the farm, and almost always in the background the sound of farm equipment, tractors, hay balers during this part of the summer, and all of the many different implements that seem necessary to run a farm these days.  My memories, being older than most of the dirt on this farm, can take me back to even gentler days when the equipment was smaller and in most cases non-existent for my family.  We had a small tractor with a one row plow, a small disk and even smaller planter.  Of course, Dad only needed that much for our 5 acres when I was growing up out on Highway 81.  The hill of daffodils is in Philpot, on the other side of the county.  At that time Philpot was reached by driving miles and miles on a narrow road mostly known for all of the one lane bridges that took us over the ever winding Panther Creek.

My favorite story of how Panther Creek got its name is one of some pioneers a couple hundred years ago who were camping on the banks of the creek.  During the night their sleep was interrupted by the growling of what I have heard described as the largest, blackest panther any of the campers had ever seen.  I have no idea if the story is true or not, but it makes me smile to think of how those poor campers must have felt with a large Panther roaming just outside the camp area, kept at bay by the campfire.  In the morning the Panther was gone and the previously unknown creek had a name — Panther Creek.  It is also one of the longest creeks in the area, or so I have heard.  I’m not sure how long the creekbed is but some of my early memories are of playing on the banks of that creek as a child, swinging on grape vines across it, hiking up and down those banks with my cousins and school friends, and my first kiss under one of the bridges on Highway 81 where I played “spin the bottle” with cousins and friends.  Can’t say it was much of a kiss but then again, we were in the 5th grade, and back in those days we were children much longer than today.  I guess I was 10 years old that summer, and the guy I kissed was 11.  Yeah, we were really goofy back then.

The Autumn photos here were all taken within a few blocks of my building.  The one of the tall building is where I live today and have lived for the past 19 years.  A couple of the photos were taken from my window, but some from my cruises around the area in my power chair.  Now I’m looking forward to cooler weather when I can get out again and cruise a long time more in the latest of my power chairs.  And below are a few shots of my new wheels.  I hope to some day get enough accustomed to driving it, or even more, to turning it around in my narrow hall without gouging holes in the walls that it will be as easy for me as my Hoveround was.  This one will recline and will let me raise my feet and legs to more comfortable positions, so even though it is longer it is more comfortable in the long run.  I just really need to spend some time practising that turn in my hall.

And now I’m going to give in to the pain in my shoulder, check out a few more of your latest posts and renew some friendships that have been allowed to lie dormant while I have been recovering from a bad fall and serious concussion in February.   Peace to all.

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