Footloose!

After nearly a week of wandering around in Kentucky, I have returned home. It's always good to be home, no matter where I've been.

Fern and Betty and I spent our days in libraries finding all sorts of things. I'm telling you, we love this work. There is such a feeling of connection when we run across our ancestors and get in touch with their lives. Some were stellar individuals - some were not so stellar.

It's alright. Some of us aren't so stellar, either.

Most of eastern Kentucky, where a good many of our people are from, is considered Appalachia (not "App-a-lay-sha" - it's "App-a-latcha"). There is a lot of poverty there. It's beautiful in parts - but some parts have become very run down. If my parents had remained there, or in West Virginia (where mom and my sisters were baptized) who knows what our lives would have been like...

There was one thing that really touched our hearts. My dad had always said he went to college in Berea, KY. My attitude was usually, "Yeah, right...", for dad didn't go to school past 6th grade. He spent three years in 4th grade! College? I don't think so.

We went to Berea, KY. It is a beautiful college town. After some things we found out, it became even more beautiful.


Dad did indeed go to college there. Just like Oberlin College here in Ohio, it became one of the first co-educational, non-segregated schools in the country. It was founded in 1855. One could go to school for free - and you still can. With qualifying grades and support from the private sector and alumni, tuition is free. Students work their way through. It is specifically for the students of Appalachia, but one of our waiters was from Shaker Heights (just outside of Cleveland, OH). The demeanor of the students there was one not always seen on campuses.

We went in to the Special Collections and Archives. Dad was enrolled in September 1930 in the Junior High program. It was a way to get caught up on grades 1-9. In April of 1931, his father called him home to work. He went for 1 1/2 semesters and never got to go back. It was planting time in Kentucky. His formal education had come to an end.

Dad had an engineering mind, as did his ancestors before him. It was said of his grandfather that all you had to do was tell him the size house you wanted built. He would figure it out in his head how much lumber was needed, and there would barely be a splinter left over. Dad could design anything. He built me a wheat grinder out of two burr stones, some plywood, and a washing machine motor he found at the dump.

I wish I would have inherited some of it - just a little bit.

We loved the little town, and will always have fond memories of it.
Boone Tavern, where we had many meals. We couldn't believe the price for a room - about the same as a Fairfield Inn - or even a Comfort Suites!

The lobby in Boone Tavern.
A flower arrangement in the Tavern, where they incorporate live flowers into the arrangement.
Me in one of the many lobbies - but forget me. Look at the rug!
Quilt patterns are on the sides of many buildings. We mostly saw them on barns. There is even a quilt trail through several counties.
A quilt hanging in the public library in Berea. It was made in 1885 - just one year before my grandmother was born.
I loved this picture depicting a country dance. It reminded me of a dance I went to in the mountains of Virginia several years ago. I spent the evening dancing with a retarded man. When I got too tired, he picked up a broom and started dancing with it. It was probably a better dance partner.
The streets of downtown Berea. The whole town was this clean.
Dr. Thomas Walker - one of my distant ancestors. He was one of the early explorers who led an expedition west of the Allegheny Mountains in 1750 - about 19 years before Daniel Boone. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Walker_(explorer) Doesn't he look a wee bit Scottish?

Well, I suppose that's enough of a history lesson for this week. You can tell that it's one of my greatest loves - the history of my family and the history of this nation.

I arrived home on Thursday evening to Kerry's long and loving embrace. Oh, it felt so good. I'd had a week of pinto beans with sweet onions, cornbread, salmon patties, buttermilk, biscuits and gravy - all of the food I grew up on. Now it was time to come home and get back to a little bit healthier eating.

But, Betty insisted that I go back into a restaurant and look on the wall. Sure enough, there was a tile that I HAD to get a picture of...
I think Mr. Kerry has improved my character. He's a good, good man.

This month, we wish a happy birthday to:
Spenser - Jean's grandson - Oct 2
JJ - our grandson! - Oct 8
Janet - my good friend from Akron - Oct 14

And a happy anniversary to:
Dave and Joan - Jean's son and d-i-l - Oct 19
Orson & Shirley - Kerry's parents, who were married Oct 30, 1944. Good, good people. I miss them.

And, a few good reads:
"Learning to endure times of disappointment, suffering, and sorrow is part of our on-the-job training. These experiences, while often difficult to bear at the time, are precisely the kinds of experiences that stretch our understanding, build our... character, and increase our compassion for others". By: Joseph B. Wirthlin, "Come What May, and Love It", Ensign, Nov 2008

"Keep the fire of your testimony of the restored gospel and your witness of our Redeemer burning so brightly that our children can warm their hands by the fire of your faith". By: President Boyd K. Packer Ensign, May 2003