May 21, 2010- Of Hills, Tamales, and Imagination
After rains cleared, we headed out and it started raining. It was refreshing, though, and we needed the motion.
Stuart really exercised his navigational skills as we crossed into Tennessee. Few roads on the route were marked, and they were all rural and uphill. Pushing our bikes up one particularly evil slope, we recorded a 6.1% grade using Stuart’s i-phone. Of course the hills provided plenty of exercise for the kids. We parked at the bottom of one hill and hiked up to an old cemetery. I’ve always liked the quiet feeling and weighty language of cemeteries. Jane fluttered around sounding out names on headstones and I imagined macabre Kindergarten papers peppered with question marks and notes of concern.
A few hills later when we paused to eat some oxygen I threw a graham cracker at Stuart, but missed.
When we pulled up to Shirley’s trailer to inquire about a nearby restaurant and campground we were completely calorie deficient and grouchy. The assembly at Shirley’s said the restaurant was closed, and they didn’t know about the campground, but would we like some BBQ chicken, dried black-eyed peas, and maybe some Coke or Meller Yeller. Jane made fast friends with Shirley’s granddaughter, Allie, who is four, and we thankfully accepted the invitation of our gracious hosts. The family had already eaten, but we all sat on the porch enjoying the evening together and before we left Shirley shared with me her recipe for hot tamales. Eyes a-twinkle, she also filled our cooler with frozen tamales for the road.
We biked another mile to the Shilo battlefield campground, which was a couple of mowed fields surrounded by majestic and mysterious trees and separated by a wet ditch that the children referred to as “the marsh”. Stuart set up camp and my history lesson for the kids morphed into a tour of two imaginary worlds they created on the spot. Jane’s story of Pixi Land, told entirely whilst she was gracefully “flying” with her arms, was pure summertime imagination candy.
Jane was adamant that there were no boys in Pixi land: brothers, silly boys like Matthew, and future husbands like Owen had their own world and could only visit Pixi land by request and upon the stipulation that they first had to go to the market and order wings; also, they couldn’t bring their swords. Despite Jane’s royal decree, the magic spell of our private worlds was broken with the twilight arrival of three (3) troops of boy scouts. We fell asleep as voices cracked and hammers clanged and boys rushed about on the margins of a field made magical by childhood.
May 26th, 2010 at 5:50 pm
We have too have spent a night next to boyscout campers. I can vividly remember quietly enjoying the campfire and suddenly hearing the screech of young men playing ‘capture the flag’ at the stroke of midnight. The memories you are creating are fantastic!
May 28th, 2010 at 12:35 pm
iam the sister in law of shirley , hope you all like the tamales , and happy trails
May 31st, 2010 at 8:15 am
We really enjoyed the tamales! Thank you so much for the yummy dinner and your hospitality!
June 5th, 2010 at 4:01 pm
Have just found out about you guys’ little biking trek! WOW!
My family is enjoying keeping up with your travels and your true ‘quality family time’ adventures and tales each day.
[I’m still reading.. and I haven’t ran across the answers yet] – So please allow me to ask these two (probably, premature) questions here and now >
(1) What brand/model of digital camera/s are you guys using? -and- (2) What brand/model of laptop/s are you implementing?
Yall are making some truly fantastic memories!
Stay safe and be well, and even more so – ENJOY!
Maggie
June 7th, 2010 at 9:50 am
Hi Maggie! Thanks for reading along: this trip certainly is a sweet family time doughnut with epic sprinkles and strong, hot coffee you have to chew. I’m glad you and your family are enjoying the stories.
We’re using a G-11 Cannon camera, which we enjoy for several reasons, chiefly the motion stabilization feature. We’re also using a MacBook Pro computer that is on generous loan from Jeff Baird and the good folks at Database Systems in Springfield, Mo.