White Oak Resting Tree - a story

Not long ago, I was searching the internet for stories about sacred trees/ancient trees/old trees, when to my surprise, a wonderful story popped up. In it, reporter Claire Galofaro wrote about an old white oak tree that was said to have graves at its base, and the tree was literally in my backyard! Well, not really, but it does stand just up the road about thirty minutes away.

I tried to meet with Ms. Galofaro, but it just wasn't to be, so we communicated briefly via email and I have continued to research the old tree and its legend since that time.

My interest in old trees has been a long time coming: my grandfather was a timberman who worked with the teams that stripped North Florida of nearly all its old-growth trees back in the 1920-30's. It pained him so badly, that although he spoke of it frequently, he would never take me to see the "last cypress tree," until I was 13-years-old.

When I saw the tree, it changed my attitude towards the natural world forever. It was literally, the last one of its kind left standing. He told me, "We thought they would never end, but when we came to that giant tree, we realized what we had done and couldn't cut it." That tree stands now, surrounded by thousands of young trees, and my story about it is on Legends of the Wild: Tales of North Florida, my CD, which you can order by contacting me at saundrakelley@hotmail.com.

In the last several years, I've followed up on other old trees with interesting stories to share in oral performance, including the Resting Tree. To think that in the 1800's slaves often had no sacred place for burial; to know that an old man risked everything to save a crippled child who never walked,and then buried him under the white oak when he died is precious and should be remembered. That old tree stands still, in Bristol, VA, on appropriately named, Resting Tree Drive.

According to Galfaro's contacts, the old tree is between 375 and 525-years-old now. Can you imagine the stories it could tell? That it was saved in part due to the graves nestled under its spreading arms is a miracle, and to know those graves will not be disturbed nor that old, old tree cut down to make way for progress, is truly inspiring.

I will tell that story in conjunction with several other's at 7pm Tuesday evening, March 1st at the Cranberry Thistle in Jonesborough, TN as a performing member of the Jonesborough Storytellers Guild.

Healthcare and the uninsured

I sit on the board of a downtown clinic for the unemployed/underemployed and uninsured. I just got an email telling me we are in danger of losing our health clinics all over America - this, in the worst downturn in our history. It should come as no surprise: many Americans panicked at the enormous spending that was necessary to keep our country on its feet recently, and in fear of losing all of their cozy eggs, swung the pendulum the other direction. Now we are in the hands of some free-wheeling politicians who have no fear of putting folks out of their homes and onto the street, and denying healthcare to those who need it most.

Remember the "trickle down" theory? It should be re-named "suctioned up." Go to one of those clinics and you'll see folks who have tried hard to get healthcare and finally found it at the clinic. I know - I am one. I am an uninsured American with two degrees who gets her healthcare at a downtown clinic. Without that clinic, I would essentially have no healthcare, especially now that emergency rooms routinely turn folks away who simply need to be seen and haven't got a doctor.

Don't let this happen in America - keep those clinics fully funded and take the money from some place in the upper strata of our society, not the bottom.

Hyacinths are up

I felt so elated this morning when I saw the beginnings of the hyacinths peeking up through the soil. For once, we have no snow on the ground here in Jonesborough, although the white stuff is predicted to fall tomorrow. Oh, well, I suppose we can deal with it since that good old ground hog predicted an early spring. Just the thought of it makes me smile.

Southern Appalachian Storytellers: Interviews with Sixteen Keepers of the Oral Tradition, edited by Saundra Gerrell Kelley, is available on Amazon.com in soft cover or electronic, or through www.mcfarlandpub.com.