Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Home

When I was growing up I was surrounded by quiet. It wasn't the absence of sound. Sound was always there. It was locust heating up in mid day sun, cows lowing in the field, chickens cackling in the hen house, my grandmother's sewing machine clacking as she pushed the peddle while she sewed a quilt top or if I was lucky, a new dress for me.

Maybe it was my sister chattering to herself as she played, or the fan in the window stirring the hot, moist air. There are sounds that will stay with me always. The sounds I heard while lying in the bed in the winter, waiting for the house to get warm, listening to my grandmother make breakfast. Hearing my grandfather come in from gathering eggs, or milking and talk over the day's plans with my grandmother. It was my grandmother pulling out her church hymnal, sitting in her rocker and singing the Shaped Note hymns she had sung all her life. Our home wasn't always quite so these memories mean even more to me.

Quiet wasn't the absence of sound. It was peaceful contentment, something you felt clear down to the soul, and these sounds were part of that. They belonged. They were part of what made life warm and good. These sounds were comfort, they were home.

I think that is why I love the mountains so much. They feel like home. Their sounds surround you and they become part of you. When you leave them the quiet you feel stays with you for awhile. I can't stay away too long because I need that peace.

I've never really liked living in the city. It never has felt right. I guess that is why the time I can spend away is so important to me. When I can't close my eyes and find that peace, when I can't find quiet, I know it is time to go home.

Picture: Cades Cove, my very favorite picnic spot.

2 comments:

Susie Q said...

I am so pleased that you stopped by my blog and we *met* this way! I really love your blog and have now bookmarked it!

he Smokey's are very important to us here...I spent every Spring Break and parts of my Summers there as my Dad was born and raised in East TN. I still have a lot of relatives and friends there. One of my best friends and her husband live in Marysville.

My parents lived in Ohio for years and years. I was born and raised here but when they retired hey moved to Middle Tn and lived there for over 25 years. Dad is gone now and Mom just moved back here last year. Grace and I are taking Mom back to Tn for a visit next week in fact.

AND, Bill and I actually met and got to know one another during Spring Break, in Gatlinburg, in 1976. One reason it is all so special to me.

You live in one of the best places in the world AND the prettiest!

I do hope we will get to know one another!

Have a sweet week!

Hugs,
Sue

Carrie J said...

Well you are very familiar with the area! We are in the Knoxville area and our business takes us to the mountains on a regular basis. I don't know when the last time was you were there but it is growing so very fast. It is amazing! Great for the economy but not for nature lovers like me. The Townsend side is much better for that.
I hope we get to know each other too. Thanks so much for stopping by.