Faith, Folklore, and Friends

The lilies are blooming all over North Alabama, and I love them. The ones pictured are from my back yard. I especially love close-ups, where you can see the pollen and the connections and how everything our Creator made is so right. Take some time this weekend to slow down and see the tiny, latent, and pure beauty that can be found in common lilies.

The word equinox comes from the Latin words meaning “equal night.” Days and nights are 12 hours everywhere and the Sun rises and sets due east and west.  It happens because of the Earth's position in its annual journey around the Sun.  It marks the first day of spring.  Now, the days will get longer and hopefully, warmer.  We have had a mean winter, and everyone I know is tired of it. We had an ice storm on March 5/6, and we pray we don't see another one until 2031 or thereabouts.  We have had enough rain to cause flooding, and a few days that made us remember that spring is possible.  It is one of the joys of living in North Alabama. In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt. -Margaret Atwood

  Not my photo; source unknown March 5 brings us the Full Worm Moon, the full moon before the spring equinox.   This full moon is also known as the Full Sap Moon, the Lenten Moon, and according to the Dakota Sioux, the Moon When Eyes are Sore from the Bright Snow. It is thought the name Full Worm Moon comes from the Algonquin tribes who lived from New England to Lake Superior.  At this time of year, the earth warms enough for earth worms to appear and start digesting dirt.  This worm activity naturally brings robins looking for their breakfast.  We see the robins and know that spring can't be far away.   As I am writing this at 6:05 on March 5, the ground is covered with a layer of ice and it is still falling from the sky.  Our roads are skating rinks, and our temperatures will probably not rise above freezing today.  If a robin finds a worm today, it may be like eating a little icicle. Still, hope springs eternal, and I am thinking t...

Snow in the South is wonderful. It has a kind of magic and mystery that it has nowhere else.  And the reason for this is   that it comes to people in the South not as the grim, unyielding tenant of Winter's keep,  but as a strange and wild visitor from the secret North. - THOMAS WOLFE

Every fall, my lil' ole sister and I take a pilgrimage north on the Natchez Trace Parkway.  We go to see the fall foliage, to spend some time together, and have some giggling time.  Y'all know what I'm talking about . The Natchez Trace Parkway is a 444 mile two-lane road from Natchez, Mississippi, to Nashville, Tennessee.  Maintained by the National Park Service, the road follows the trail made by men and horses many years before Henry Ford was a gleam in his mother's eye. Luckily for us, 33 miles of it runs through Northwest Alabama, and we travel it a lot. Last Friday, Hub and I met my Sis and brother-in-law in Collinwood, Tennessee, and got on the Trace there, near mile marker 355.  We drove to the northern end, to mile marker 444. The speed limit on the Trace is 50 mph, so you have to slow down a little and look around.  There is much to be seen in those 89 miles. I will be sharing our adventures here in the next few days. It was way to...

The fields are white, literally white, in North Alabama now. The farmers here plant cotton every year.  Some years, they earn enough to make them want to plant more.  Other years, they curse the day they put the seed in the ground.  My parents raised cotton until I was a teenager.  I remember going to the field to help pick cotton, although I'm sure my contribution would not have been missed.  I did learn a lot, however, about dirt and desire and delusions and disappointments and dreams. Modern stories tend to romanticize cotton picking.  Obviously, the tellers of these stories never knew how one's back would threaten to come apart from the strain of bending over and pulling a heavy pick sack all day long.  Or, how the day would start out cool, with dew wet leaves that made the  cotton fiber stick to your hands, especially in the raw areas where the sharp cotton boles had taken the skin. Or, how the noo...

Autumn is not just pretty leaves and pumpkins. We had a perfect weather weekend here in North Alabama: sunny, cool, and a nice breeze.  On Saturday, we could have gone to the Bell Buckle, Tennessee, arts festival or the Kentuck arts festival.  I could have gone to a meeting on Saturday or attended a fall festival on Sunday afternoon. We did none of these things.  We worked in the yard, cleaning the detritus of summer and getting rid of things we won't need for the coming winter.  Seasons are the stuff of life, the ever changing cycle that never stops, and no matter how hard it is to let go,  we have to accept it and move on. When I am grieving, angry, frustrated, sad, and/or overwhelmed, I find   the best therapy is doing physical work outside.  I can better deal with things when I'm breathing fresh air and working in silence. Many years ago, a therapist told me the best thing for emotional management was getting a plastic bat and hi...