Faith, Folklore, and Friends

The word paradise is from the Greek  paradeisos , which means a park or a garden. Our Father God promises the faithful that we can live in paradise someday, but it is possible to get a small glimpse of it right now. All images by Wanda Stricklin Robertson.  Kindly contact me before using them. Cheekwood Botanical Gardens 1200 Forrest Park Drive Nashville, Tennessee cheekwood.org

It was all my Grandma's fault for up and dying right after she had paid to have the winter's coal delivered.   Everyone in the neighborhood heated their homes with wood, even the people we thought were rich.  It was what we had done since the first cabins were erected, and we didn't see any sense in changing as late as 1965. Wood was free and plentiful in those Tennessee hills, and almost everyone had a chainsaw by then. Grandma and Grandpa were getting on up in years, and it became difficult to lift the heavy firewood to put in the heater to heat their home. Someone they knew had a good pickup and a source of cheap coal, and with a little encouragement, they bought a used coal heater and had a winter's supply of coal delivered. Oh, it was so good!  They could get enough coal in a bucket to last for most days. Just a few pieces of the burning coal could  put out enough heat for them to stay comfortable.  No more piling enough firewood by the front door...

The Foothills Parkway is the oldest unfinished road construction project in Tennessee.  Congress authorized construction of the road in 1944, and they are still working on it some 74 years later.  Fortunately for all of us, a 16.1 mile section was completed on November 10 of this year.  It takes you from Walland to Wears Valley. We drove on it last week, tired after driving all day.  It was a gloomy, dark day, and we really didn't know what to expect. It was awesome, literally breathtaking. I don't know if I have ever seen anything so beautiful. That is Townsend, Tennessee in the valley. Below is Wears Valley, just before the end of the parkway.  We had planned to watch the sunrise on our way home, but because of snow and ice, the parkway was closed that day..  You can be sure our next trip to the Smokies will include some time here.