Faith, Folklore, and Friends

On the last day of classes, I ask my students if they want to be really, really smart.   Turns out, some of them do.   Here's my advice: 1. Travel 2. Read books 3. Slow down and listen  There are other things, of course, but these are the three that will work for anyone.  Trust me. I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for  travel’s  sake. The great affair is to move. ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

Hub and I just returned from a cruise, and it was wonderful.  I love the sea: I think it calls me, which is odd for a woman who was raised on the highest ridge in Hardin County, Tennessee.  I didn't even see the ocean until I was in my early twenties.  We don't spend a lot of time at the beach because both of us have had multiple bouts with skin cancer, and we have to be really careful.   This ship, the Carnival Freedom , has a serenity deck where we could relax in the shade while still enjoying the sea breeze. This was our tenth cruise.  The first one was in 2001, when we traveled to Cozumel with first-born son and his family.  Since that time, we have learned lots of short-cuts about embarking and debarking, about what to do and not to do when we stop at different ports.     For years, Hub and I roamed the West, sleeping in tents and cheap motels.  Sometimes, we slept in our van in rest areas.  We have ...

  Construction on Huntsville's Lowe Mill began in 1900, and the massive building opened in 1901.  The building, with its 25,000 spindles, turned local cotton into cloth.  A few years later, it was used as a cotton warehouse.    After World War II ended, the building housed the General Shoe Company, providing jobs for approximately 800 people and shoes for soldiers.  Genesco closed in 1978, then the mill became a warehouse for Martin Industries.  In 2001, the building was sold to its current owner, Research Genetics founder, Jim Hudson. Today, Lowe Mill Arts and Entertainment is the largest center for the arts in the Southeast.  Hundreds of artists demonstrate and sell their crafts in booths covering three floors of the old building.   Last Saturday, Steph and I enjoyed wandering around all the booths and talking to the artists.  We rode the vintage elevator and walked on wooden floors scarred by footsteps long ...