| Author | Message | ||
     Jerry_haughton |
DAY THIRTEEN, cont.  the Cool Springs Baptist Church (the hills of the south are FULL of Baptist Churches...) was indeed very cool, and it was great to be on the Parkway again. no detours today - today was BRP all the way. the neatest thing about this place for me was the "spring house", situated under the trees next to a small spring that has probably been bubbling out of the ground for centuries. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on November 02, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY THIRTEEN, cont.  i've always been fascinated by the concept of cold, clear water simply emerging from the ground, and our visit here was no exception. back in the "old" days, this was a family's refrigerator. simple, effective, and close to the land. not bad words to live by. move on if you wish, but if you're like me you'll find the following description of a spring house, spoken by a lady by the name Kristi Gross, mesmerizing: As a youngster I often visited a farm with a spring house. A spring house is a wonderful little building. The one I visited was only about 4 feet high at the roof level. Adults had to bend over to enter. It was a simple little building with a wooden door latched by a hook and eye. This spring house had a hole near the ground on each side, and a stream of water flowing right through the building. A big trough was built in the center of the water with the water always half filling the trough with clear cold water. This trough was made of wood which sat long ways in the stream. It looked much like a long military rifle box, about a yard long and 6 inches deep with a 2-3 inch crack on the bottom of the short sides for the water to flow through. (If it was made of cement it might prove more long lasting and provide a better cooling effect than one made of wood.) Bottles containing food were placed in the flowing water within this trough. The upper sides of the box kept the bottles from flowing away. Crocks or jars of milk, butter, eggs, anything my friend, Alma, wanted to keep cold was kept in the spring house and it was my childhood joy to be sent to the spring house after something for her kitchen use. This was especially so in the hot Oklahoma summers as it was always 20-40 degrees cooler here than anyplace outside. Alma kept her butter in a small wide mouthed mason jar, eggs were in a wire basket and the milk was kept in a large crock and often a large pickle jar. Sometimes she had lemonade or iced tea in the spring house as well when slaughtering was going on. The inner walls of the spring house had shelves where she might set pies and baskets of potatoes, onions, or other garden produce. These were well above the water level of course. Some jars of fruit, vegetables, etc., were stored here as well. This was used as a 'step-up' from the cellar. Things kept here were also stored in the cellar, but as it took more effort to fetch things from the cellar, things were moved as might be needful up to the spring house for more immediate accessibility. Her spring house was ideally situated in the farmyard under a big shade tree that also helped to keep it cool. Also kept in the spring house was a metal dipper for drinking purposes, although under present conditions, I don't think this is too practical unless you are absolutely certain your water source is clean. But when I was a child getting sick from drinking the water was the furthest thing from our minds and no one suffered from ill effects from drinking it. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on November 02, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY THIRTEEN, cont.  when we first pulled up to Cool Springs Church, we were the only vehicles save for a modest Subaru station wagon. the owner of the station wagon, then, must be the fellow we saw in the field, with a camera on a tripod. always intrigued by photography - and photographers - i made it a point to discretely walk past the car and peek in the windows. the car was crammed with every manner of "saleable" photographic item you can think of, from calendars to post cards to mouse pads. cool, the guy's a pro. we tried to respect his "space", and we were definitely quiet as we wandered around, but it was inevitable that we got in his shot on occasion. i watched him as i checked out the spring house, looking for clues as to what he was and who he was. finally, wanting to say SOMETHING (and since HE didn't seem compelled to start a conversation), i apologized to him for being pesky tourists and for getting in the way. he thought for a moment, and looked up from his camera. "That's okay," he said with a smile, "I make a lot of money from pesky tourists." (Message edited by jerry_haughton on November 03, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY THIRTEEN, cont.  i had to chuckle at his honesty. and sense of humor. i asked him what he "did." "I shoot photos of the Parkway." i asked him what his name was, then, so that if i happened to see some of his work up the line i'd know it was his. "Scott Graham," he replied, "and you WILL see lots of my work." i liked the way he said what he said. not boastful, but certainly not shy. "I just finished a coffee table book called Blue Ridge Parkway - America's Favorite Journey," he said. great, i said, i'll keep an eye out for it. we wished him well. he was right. up the line i DID see lots of examples of his work, and i now have a copy of his book - signed, no less - sitting right next to me as i type these words. there's nothing in it for me other than the feel good, but a quick search on Amazon would prolly take you right to it - it's a cool piece of work. (and, technically, it's by J. Scott Graham and Elizabeth C. Hunter, just so's ya know.) yep, pe$ky touri$t$.  (Message edited by jerry_haughton on November 04, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY THIRTEEN, cont.  yep, the South is BIG on Baptist churches, whether built from logs, or bricks. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on November 03, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY THIRTEEN, cont.  i have forgotten the name of the church, but it's beautiful, located in a quiet, serene setting along the Parkway. looks like it's been here awhile, too. the lighting was nice, and the cemetery was asking to be photographed. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on November 05, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY THIRTEEN, cont.  many of the last names on the headstones were the same, not surprising when one considers the remote location and how long this cemetery has been here. sad that many of the souls resting here were but infants when they passed. still, a beautiful, peaceful place to stop and rest a few minutes, and gave us both pause to ponder our own mortality, and to give thanks for our many blessings. JB2 admitted that as many times as he's done the Parkway that he's never stopped here. sometimes it's nice to see an old friend thru an old friend's eyes. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on November 04, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY THIRTEEN, cont.  coming... (Message edited by jerry_haughton on November 04, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY THIRTEEN, cont.  ...going... (Message edited by jerry_haughton on November 04, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY THIRTEEN, cont.  ...works for me, says JB2. imagine riding along a road as beautiful as this for almost 500 miles. that's the Blue Ridge Parkway. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on November 04, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY THIRTEEN, cont.  most of the day we were flirting with the clouds, which added depth and drama to a landscape already endowed with copious amounts of the same. most of my pix from the Parkway were shot at my Nikon's maximum lens angle, the equivalent of about 35-mm, yet looking back thru the photos it's obvious that much of the landscape - as in this long, dramatic climb into the heavens - still never made it to the lens. the Parkway begs to be seen and appreciated with your own eyes. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on November 04, 2004) | ||
| Bartimus |
Truly some wonderful photo's Ferris! An exceptional trip all in all. The story is will worth the wait. It is great getting online every now and then and catching up with what you did and where you went upon your journey. thanks for sharing! BBB | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
thank you Bad Billy Bartimus. it's taking quite some time to edit the pix, get the right ones shrunk down, get 'em posted, and then go back and edit in text. my computer situation is the same as it was when you were here, which is to say "cumbersome and slow" (just like me, some would say), and life being what it is, some days it's hard to even find the time to go back and add some text. that said, it's a wonderful journey all over again as i plod along and get this stuff posted, and i appreciate hearing from folks who are enjoying it with me. say, do you know anything about shark fishing???  FB | ||
| Usroute66 |
Jerry, I grew up on the BRPway. Beautiful roadway, BUT, they have dummyed down the speed to 45 mph, right? Did U see many cops? I never did it on a bike but would sure like to. Thanks for the pics. Scott | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
Scott, yes, the posted limit IS 45, and is probably for the best. the Parkway is fantastically unique, as i see it, and meant to be absorbed with patience and anticipation with every fiber of your being. (melodramatic words, perhaps, but you've been there and thus know what i mean.) there are plenty of OTHER great roads in the area for strafing, and there were only a few times that i regretted the deliberate pace. JB2 will have to help me confirm, but i don't think we saw a single LEO during our BRP journey. for that matter, since the "official" tourist season was over, we saw very few people at all. we pretty much had the place to ourselves, which was Very Nice Indeed. | ||
| Jb2 |
Ferris, I remember seeing three Explorers parked at the visitor center where the Smokies end and the BRP begins. We made a logistical stop before entering the parkway. I think we may have passed one in the fog as we were coming off the BRP this very night(day 13), but that was it. There was virtually no traffic. We ran into more people by stopping at the visitor centers than on the road. I imagine you have a ton of pics to chose from on this day. We packed the very best of the northern half in one day. Kind of like a "blurr" in retrospect, eh? | ||
| Edmanning |
Jim, gettin kinda cool up in these hills. Time to swap the Fault for the bagger again. You workin on that ST yet? Ferris, You've givin me a couple of ideas for the springs on the hill behind the new house. You know back were Lucky found the fossil. Enjoying the adventure, Hillbilly | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
JB2 and Ed: and . DAY THIRTEEN, cont.  this is Brinegar's Cabin, and the place is as cool as it looks. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on November 05, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY THIRTEEN, cont.  (Message edited by jerry_haughton on November 05, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY THIRTEEN, cont.  (Message edited by jerry_haughton on November 05, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY THIRTEEN, cont.  a tough breed, for sure. hard to imagine carving out a modest little spot, a century or so ago, in the mountains of North Carolina and calling it home. or is it? (Message edited by jerry_haughton on November 05, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY THIRTEEN, cont.  (Message edited by jerry_haughton on November 05, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY THIRTEEN, cont.  JB2 figures this is where Mr. Brinegar worked on his motorcycles. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on November 05, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY THIRTEEN, cont.  kicking back, all aglow in my hi-vis Rider's Roost designer wear. Henrik (if you're lurking),i understand you took a very peaceful nap in this very spot. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on November 05, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY THIRTEEN, cont.  did i mention the south is big on Baptist churches? (Message edited by jerry_haughton on November 05, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY THIRTEEN, cont.  so much so, it seems, that ONE Baptist church here isn't enough... (Message edited by jerry_haughton on November 05, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY THIRTEEN, cont.  ...so they erected another one next door. these are both visible from, and accessible from, the BRP. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on November 05, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY THIRTEEN, cont.  (Message edited by jerry_haughton on November 06, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY THIRTEEN, cont.  (Message edited by jerry_haughton on November 06, 2004) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
DAY THIRTEEN, cont.  (Message edited by jerry_haughton on November 06, 2004) |
