Been “illustrating” my personal journal and playing around with my phone camera. Kinda like the way this one turned out. It reminds me of some of Mom’s sketches.
One day I’ll be brave and try journaling on unlined paper. 😉
Been “illustrating” my personal journal and playing around with my phone camera. Kinda like the way this one turned out. It reminds me of some of Mom’s sketches.
One day I’ll be brave and try journaling on unlined paper. 😉
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Somewhere in heaven there’s bound to be a corner where Chet Atkins holds court, folded over his guitar with a lover’s absorption–for, as his brother-in-law, the legendary mandolinist Jethro Burns once told him, Chet, when the angels hear you sing, they’ll FIND you a guitar–
Speaking for myself, I always loved Chet’s little rangeless voice and his humor, both on full display in his disarming rendition of Ray Stevens’ “Frog Kissin'”.
Chet was born on June 20, 1924, in Luttrell, Tennessee, and from there, conquered the world of guitar. He once made a list of the most influential guitarists of all time for Irving Wallace in The Book of Lists; he placed Django Reinhardt at the top and himself, with commendable and characteristic modesty, in the middle of the pack.
Happy birthday, Chet. Damn, we miss you.
Posted in Country Music, Music | 5 Comments »
Singing along with Slim Whitman was always an exercise in humility for me. It took me years to figure that I could never hit those achingly sweet high notes because I’m an alto and he was Slim Whitman. By comparison, I sounded like Tennessee Ernie Ford–(okay, I’m exaggerating, but only a little 😉 ).
Of all the songs he recorded, this is my favorite.
Godspeed, Slim.
Posted in Country Music, Music |
Bald River Falls
Cherokee National Forest in Monroe County, TN
At flood stage after a reported five inches of rain, June 2, 2013.
Photograph copyright 2013 by Paul Gamble. Used by permission.
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I remember Mom sitting talking with her arthritis doctor, one day years ago. Now mind you, she was wheelchair-bound by then save in the confines of home; her knees and ankles, ravaged by rheumatoid arthritis, would no longer support her so she could walk. She sat in a wheelchair facing him, and I sat behind her in one of those godawful vinyl chairs that all doctors’ offices seem cursed with–
She was telling him about her dreams. “In my dreams there are these big green fields,” she said. “And I can walk in them, for miles and miles.”
Yep, I cried then, and I cry now, partly from loss but mostly for joy–
…
for in the green fields of heaven she walks those miles.
Love you, Mom ♥
The showy orchis isn’t a field flower, but a forest one–which wouldn’t have mattered to Mom–she’d have walked miles to see this, too.
Photograph copyright by Paul Gamble 2012. Used by permission (he’s my brother.) 🙂
Posted in Personal experience | 2 Comments »
The songs say it all. . .
Posted in Country Music, Music | 10 Comments »
“Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away. . .and I don’t know where they have put him.” John 20:13 (NIV)
Mary stayed
after the men left the empty tomb,
her sorrow rooting her to the ground
before it,
her tears no ease, no balm
for her great grief
this morning, three days
from that hilltop
for this,
this loneliness,
she waited at the foot of the cross?
for this,
this hurt beyond hurts,
she listened?
the man who speaks to her
is a stranger.
and she begs him:
where have you put him?
Where have you taken him?
Tell me!
and then the smile crosses his face,
the smile that healed her of her madness
when they first met:
He says only, Mary.
though she knows the impossibility
of escaping from Death,
that cruel ender of dreams,
she believes the promise
once and for all;
her answer is a gasp:
Teacher!
one word is enough
Poem copyright 2013 by Faire Lewis.
Posted in Poetry | 4 Comments »