Ridge Lines: “I Can Live Forever…” - BlueRidgeNow.com

I turn to the poetry of Louise Bailey: "Yon little village is now aglow/Its cheerful light ascends to meet the rays … To say goodbye to last year’s happy days/And make a toast for Auld Acquaintance sake."

Another year has slipped by, making way for a new one filled with dreams of a bright and meaningful future.

My thoughts for now collect around the wisdom of Frank Coiner, a former attorney, who died in 2004. Frank eloquently championed the preservation of the historic courthouse.

Each December, I recall his oratory. I revisit his speeches: "Tomorrow does not belong to us," he would say, "but only the fondest memories of yesterday."

So it was for Frank Coiner, and so it is with me. These are challenging, but exciting times — for once again we are creating the future.

Author Thomas Wolfe wrote about three time-elements: present time, past time, and immutable time (that of rocks, rivers, trees, and mountains).

As often as possible, I take a trip by automobile to trace the course of the French Broad River—from its origins at Rosman… to where it moves out of Henderson to Buncombe County.

From there the great waterway continues into Knoxville, Tennessee, where it becomes a part of the Tennessee River.

For the Cherokees, the river needed several names "to fit its moods and natures." To the French Broad specifically they gave the name Agiqua. The French made a trip from the Ohio valley into western North Carolina and gave it the present name.

In at least one account, Oliver Orr referred to a volume of "North Carolina Poems" by E.C. Brooks that named the French Broad River "racing waters." "Tah-kee-os-tee — Racing Water — was the sonorous Indian name/But as ‘French Broad’ thou art written."

I often visit cemeteries. I usually come away from my visit renewed and confident in the future. I particularly enjoy visits to Oakdale (Hwy W64). I enjoy walking among the tombstones, reminding me of so many lives, so many stories. I sometimes go to the Davidson River Cemetery and the Gillespie Cemetery in Transylvania County to view the final resting places for pioneer leaders.

St. John in the Wilderness and the Calvary Episcopal Church cemeteries hold a fascination for me. More often it is the small burial places that provide special meaning for me.

Traditionally, our mountain ancestors came together to clean family cemetery plots, put flowers on graves and renew contacts with kinfolk and others. Historians suggest the practice began before the American Civil War and thus may reflect the real origin of the "memorial day" idea.

Accompanied by vocals, mountain dulcimer, keyboard and guitar, Jere Brittain has a delightful way of sharing family history and celebrating the Mills River. He describes the music the river makes: "At times, simple and clear like violin notes…at other times loud and complex like orchestra music…then again simple like a waltz."

The chapel at the Mills River Methodist Church is built with brick made by a black man by the name of Josh King. The chapel was begun in 1861 but was not completed until after the close of the war.

Our pioneer families came here shortly after the Revolutionary War armed with the "trinity for survival" — the ax, the rifle and the Bible.

Jennie Jones Giles, an instructor of local history at Blue Ridge Community College, was the first director of the HC Historic Museum. During her tenure she scripted a brochure on "The Cemeteries of Henderson County." The brochure locates cemeteries in the county.

I have often quoted Jones-Giles’ poetic words -- "They are found in pastures surrounded by cows, in apple orchards, in laurel thickets, alongside creeks and rivers, in fields surrounded by crops, deep in the woods where it takes long hikes to reach them, surrounding historic churches and covering beautifully landscaped ground."

She continues by acknowledging the many lost graves: "And some have been plowed under the ground, are underneath houses and destroyed in countless ways."

Each cemetery or graveyard in Henderson County calls us to the history of Henderson County.

"These are the graves of the founders of Henderson County, the first pioneer settlers, the freed blacks and slaves. They are the ancestors of thousands of residents. They are the history of Henderson County, North Carolina."

Carl Sandburg (the People’s Poet) died on July 22, 1967.

Young Paula, Sandburg’s granddaughter would ask her grandmother: "Gramma, what would you do if all of us died? Could you go on living?

Her reply, according to Paula, was unforgettable, "As long as I have the earth and the sky I can live forever." The mountains and farm life were instilled deep into Paula’s being.

From "The People, Yes": "In the night and overhead a shovel of stars for keeps, the people march, Where to? What next?"

May my readers have a happy New Year!