Yesterday, my good friend and neighbor, fellow storyteller Marjorie Shaefer and I drove down to Pigeon Forge, and then on to Gatlinburg, to check things out before the national storytelling conference. We will be staying at a friend's campground in Pigeon Forge and as we approached, I wondered at the wisdom of it. Lanes of traffic six deep were jammed with cars and trucks - folks enjoying the last days of summer- and all of them anxious to get off the road. When we finally cleared the frenetic angst of PF, we drove into the Smokies and that's when the peace began to settle in. We both felt it as we drove around those verdant curves and when we finally reached Gatlinburg and had to slow down again, it was ok.
Storytelling is going great, but the search for a day job continues - Johnson City maybe a thriving economic center, but real jobs, ones that pay more than minimum wage are hard to find. I'm thinking of querying the newspaper to interview others in the area and write about the experience, although I think I probably have enough to write about with Riding the Clouds.
About Me
- saundra
- Born in Tallahassee, the capital of Florida, I am a genuine Florida Cracker--a descendent of sturdy women and men who farmed their way south from North Carolina in the early 1800's. I am a graduate of Florida State University with a BS in Social Science, and earned an MA in Education/Storytelling from East Tennessee State University. My work is deeply influenced by a love and reverence for the natural world and environmental issues and my love of story. Performance Photos by Valerie Menard, Silentlightimages.com.
