Snow on the Mountain

Christmas at home this year was a special joy: my grandson Tucker has a new baby sister, Tatum. This grandmother thing is pretty special and I'm loving every minute of it, so much so that I waited too long to hit the road and ran right into the worst storm I've ever been in.

I like to brag that I've driven in hurricanes/next to tornados/through bogs and in sand, but nothing I've ever done compared to driving in blinding snow over the mountain on Sam's Gap and Bruekner (sp?) Pass between Asheville and Jonesborough. Had it not been for two snow plow trucks flying through the snow banks, I might still be on the mountain, frozen for someone to find in the near future...

On the other hand, seeing the mountains at 20mph gave me a different view of them - blinding white even at night; huge clumps of snow 'rocks' on the highway that looked like real rocks; seeing others struggle and pull over and keeping on for no other reason than wanting to live to tell the story...

Christmas at home

It's already December 17th and I have yet to buy or make any but the most minimal gifts for my family and friends. It seems each year I wait longer, daring the holiday to catch me, and each time I do it, I live to regret my choice to delay getting out and doing what must be done. Part of the reason is that now my family just does stockings for the adults and it's much more fun to go on a mad shopping spree, dropping the unexpected into the cart and then separating everything when I get home. I love doing it that way, but this year I've got to come up with a gift that will be bargained for among the family members. I will, of course, take something home to north Florida from the mountains of East Tennessee, but just exactly what to take has escaped me. Nothing has called me to say "take me home with you."
Then there's the weather to contend with - we've had severe weather already this year and it hasn't been condusive to shopping. Normally, the climate in this little pocket of the mountains is moderate - not so this year, and I have felt the cold more than ever, and I"ve worried about those less fortunate than me and tried to remember them in any way that I can.
Now that we have a brief respite from the snow and ice, I think I'll have breakfast at the Cranberry Thistle in Jonesborough in the morning, and shop right here in this lovely little town. It's more than lovely - this place is flat out beautiful and very old and it always makes me feel good to give back to the folks that make it so.
Happy shopping!

Christmas Time in Jonesborough, TN

The streets of lovely old Jonesborough are decorated for Christmas with great bunches of evergreen magnolia branches, and all of the downtown lampposts wear wreaths fastened with bright red bows. Inside the Visitors Center, Christmas trees decorated by various community groups add a festive air to what will soon be frenzied activity. Santa Claus is coming soon and horse-drawn carriages decorated with tiny lights roll through town; storytellers tell their favorite tales, and most likely, new stories will evolve from this years' holiday. Grandma's and grandpa's will dredge their memories for tales from childhood to entertain the grandchildren, telling them of the days when horses were stabled under the beautiful courthouse and folks hitched their horses and buggies to the posts outside.

Tomorrow night, carolers carolers dressed in Victorian era clothing will fill the air around the old courthouse with the songs we all love and remember from childhood, and next week, the magical Christmas Parade brings Santa to town, and we can pretend to be children again.

If the paragraphs above are sappy and filled with a touch of sadness, you've caught the gist of what this piece is about. I love this beautiful and well-tended place , but it really is dream-like. I've often likened it to Brigadoon, and I'm far from the only one, but running underneath the carefully reconstructed beauty is real life - the joy and pain that everyone knows. Perhaps the big holiday celebration this year will help us forget burgeoning unemployment/underemployment, homes lost, rising medical costs and crazy weather.

This is not the time for those of us blessed with abundance to hold back from giving to those who are not.Join me in sharing with those who are less fortunate this year. Find something warm and give it to someone who is cold. I promise it will warm your heart, and the fragrance of joy will breathe its sweetness over your soul, especially if you make that commitment one that will last all year long.