Riding the Rail, Walking the Line
we rode the Blue Ridge
Scenic Railway, feet in both
Georgia / Tennessee
Riding the Rails of the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway
Brothers on Bridges, By Fire Pits and on Couches in Blue Ridge
I call Bethany my sister-in-law because what’s his is mine and what’s mine is his, and since she’s married to his brother, that makes her my sister in law too. When we saw that we would not be able to complete Part 2 of our Route 66 trip from Santa Monica to Albuquerque this year, we booked a quick weekend getaway to the mountains of North Georgia a couple of months ago to celebrate their birthdays this month. We’d flown to Chicago and rented a car to drive to Albuquerque and fly from Albuquerque back to Atlanta in June 2024, and we still talk about all the great memories we made on that trip. I can’t forget that coconut pie at the Midpoint Cafe in Adrian, Texas, but that’s an entire story for another day. And so we found a VRBO situated just outside Blue Ridge on a winding creek where we could relax and lower our blood pressure.
That’s why it was so meaningful yesterday when Bethany shared that she knew God had this weekend in mind, prompting us to plan the trip when we did, knowing we’d need to get away more now than ever. Things got real a couple of weeks ago when Kyle had a heart attack. When he’d picked Bethany up from the airport, he shared he wasn’t feeling well, and she’d recognized the symptoms. She took over the driving and took him straight to the hospital, where hours later, after his heart attack, the doctor showed them The Widowmaker images and assured them that they had done the right thing getting to the hospital when they did. Following surgery, he was released a few days later as good as new – even better, actually. Doctor’s orders were to take it easy for the next few weeks.
Nothing surprises God. He had Kyle in his hand, getting him to the hospital so he could be here to celebrate another birthday. Here in these mountains, we’ve eaten delicious foods, sipped coffee in the early morning, taken walks, and sat around talking and laughing as we’ve shared family stories by the fire. Today, we’ll ride the rails of the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway along the Toccoa River to see if we can spot the first leaves of fall turning their glorious colors. And we’ll each say a prayer of thanksgiving for the beauty of nature and the time together to enjoy it.
We’ve always heard the popular phrase, “Life is short. Take the trip. Buy the shoes. Eat the cake.” But when someone we love has a close call, you realize it’s not just some random saying on a t-shirt. It’s true. We get one wild and precious life, and the poet Mary Oliver had the right idea asking us what we were going to do with it. Today, we answer: we’re going to live it to the fullest and thank the Good Lord for the gift.
Our Husbands are Brothers
they waited on us
while we were shopping in town
being brotherly
later, they built us a fire,
roasted marshmallows
***
from the moment we’re
born, all our clocks are ticking
make the most of life
Brothers on Benches in Blue Ridge
When we drove a little over half of Route 66 in June 2024 with my husband’s brother and his wife, we took a lot of pictures. One theme emerged early into the trip: brothers on benches. Bethany and I would be shopping in a store or ambling along to check things out in the small towns along the way when one of us would suddenly spy the brothers deep in conversation on a nearby bench. We’d snap a photo just to timestamp the moments of our slow-paced trot across the nation, where the scenery changed by the minute but the desire to just sit and talk never did, no matter the GPS point.
Such is the case this weekend in the mountains of North Georgia on our getaway to celebrate Bethany and Kyle’s birthdays this month. The brothers are still finding benches, no matter where we go. And we’re still capturing the moments in pictures. It’s the conversation and not the landscape that remains the constant.
Brothers on Benches
brothers on benches
solving all the world’s problems
no matter the place
September 2026 Kindred Spirits Book Club
Our Kindred Spirits
more than just a small book club
we share heart and mind
Each month, the Kindred Spirits Book Club with a six-strong membership meets to discuss our monthly pick. We’re nearing the end of our second full year of reading together, and there’s a deep soul-knit sisterhood that we share. Back in January, our Kindred Spirits readers each chose two books that would take us through 2026, then we mapped out our choices on a calendar and set our meeting dates and locations for each month so that we could guard those calendar days and set ourselves up for attendance success.
It wasn’t until our actual book club meeting day (the last day of our trip to Vogel State Park last week) that I finished this month’s book, The Sideways Life of Denny Voss by Holly Kennedy, on the drive home (I like to go back and forth between Kindle and Audible). What I think I loved most about waiting until the last minute before the meeting to read the book is that so many of the details were still fresh in my mind for discussion. Generally, I read our selections far ahead of time, and by the time we meet, I’ve read a mix of other books and get the details mixed up. I’ll be more strategic with the timing of my book club selections in the future.
This book is an absolute treasure, by the way. Holly Kennedy is a Canadian author, and she had me in stitches with the kidnapping of a Canadian Goose named Tom Hanks. If you’ve never had the experience of sitting by a campfire reading a book that has you in a full-blown belly laugh while total strangers walk by chuckling from your contagious laughter, please find your way to a bookstore (or get a copy free on Kindle Unlimited) and meet Holly Kennedy in the pages of this novel as you sit by the fire this fall. I’d classify it as a comedic whodunit and go as far as classifying it as a modern Bildungsroman because the main character functions in so many ways as a child but grows in his understanding of the world. As a writer, I appreciate the way the author uses one character’s elaborate t-shirt collection to build character development throughout the novel. This book will change your perspective on those who face life with the deck stacked against them. Visit this link for more information about Holly Kennedy and read the Substack interview. Even in her author photo, you can tell she’s quite a character herself.
October’s selection (changed slightly from our calendar) is a choice of this trio: Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth, Remain by Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan, or Songteller by Dolly Parton, just to give a fourth-quarter choice of an ironic author collaboration on a romantic ghost story, a timely biography, and a book flying off the shelves and so compelling it pulls you in and won’t turn loose, and then leaves you wanting to read it all over again. Here are our other selections we’ve read this year. We’re always interested to hear what others are reading and how it has broadened minds, opened worlds, and led to new adventures!
Happy Reading!
Ambling Through Blairsville and Playing Mahjong with New Friends
One of my favorite parts of RV travel is going into small towns along the way to see what life is like there. I don’t mean it to sound like I perceive other places as somehow foreign in an Earthling versus Alien kind of way, but I like to see what everyday is like for those who live in places other than where I live. I like to see their favorite places to eat, their shops, their town squares, their Walmarts, and their libraries. I like to experience a day in the place of others whose shoes I can share for even just a day.
During a recent trip to North Georgia, we spent a little time in Blairsville. Our first stop was the county library, where we checked out the book collections and programs and also asked about where the locals like to eat. The Union County Library has a Dolly Parton display and a plant swap going on right now, and when I go to other libraries around our state, I feel sad for our small library without the resources that others have.
We got several restaurant recommendations, including Belly Pizza and Hole in the Wall. At Belly Pizza, we had a supreme pizza and ordered a large so we’d have leftovers for the next day (we are “lazy” campers who prefer microwave leftovers to cookouts). We also ordered a Catalina Wine Mixer salad, which had baby spinach, red grapes, Kalamata olives, red onion, roasted tomato, sunflower seeds, feta cheese, Catalina vineyard dressing, pepperoncini peppers, and…..ta daaaaa…. pepper drops, also known as Biquinho peppers. In all my life, I have never had these, and they were fabulously flavorful. They’re the red bulb-looking peppers in the photo below. They’re a full taste explosion, popping like a firm grape and tasting like a cross between a sweet tomato and a soft bell pepper.
We also ducked into a gelato and chocolate shop for a sweet treat. The lemon gelato was delicious with a. sugar cookie crumble topping, and the chocolates looked good, too, but we stopped at one small sweet treat and resisted the urge to splurge worse.
I also made some new friends in Blairsville, too. Debbie Lynn, a fellow blogger from Texas, shared with me recently that Mahjong groups are generally welcoming of outsiders, and so I reached out to the leader of a group that plays on Wednesdays and joined them. I’m so glad I did! It was nice to see all the lovely tablescapes and meet new friends along the way! This group charges $3 to play for the afternoon, and from their monthly earnings, they pay part of the proceeds to their clubhouse for utilities and dues, and part to a charity. When Dolly Parton died, they played the 9-2-5 Mahjong cards and sent the contributions to the Imagination Library. I’m learning a lot about how a brain-stimulating game can connect people and help organizations.
My Favorite Neighborhood
consecutive run
no jokers allowed in pairs
still, a winning line!
Whether we are at home in our own small town or off exploring in other places around our great state or nation, it’s a warm feeling to belong and feel welcome. For this week, I’m back with my own neighborhood Mahjong group, reading with my dogs nuzzled beside me, and dreading the dentist visit today at 11:00…….I love clean teeth, but I hate the scraping.
September Camping at Vogel State Park in Georgia
Camping at Vogel State Park
camping at Vogel
mountain air resetting pace
allowing deep rest
Last week, we camped on the side of a mountain where a stream ran behind our campsite and gurgled with all the relaxing sounds of water. Morning temperatures were in the 60s, and the cell phone signals and wifi weakness made streaming movies and scrolling social media all but impossible.
It was absolutely wonderful, too!
Thank goodness I had hard copies of books and downloads on my Kindle. I was more “in the moment” walking dogs, sitting fireside for chats, and being tuned in to my surroundings. I’d learned the previous week how to play solo Mahjong from a new friend named Kristy, a fellow retired teacher one county north, so I practiced making hands on the 2026 card. I’d also thought to bring watercolor paints along in case an unplanned stroke of creativity came over me (it didn’t).
I’m already missing the mountains. It has peace you can breathe, and when the air gets much cooler, there’s a size XXL outdoor fireplace under a covered pavilion with tables for games or lunch, and sturdy, ample-seated rocking chairs that overlook the lake, perfect for reading or sipping coffee. A breeze wafts through the space. We sat and breathed for a while before driving up Blood Mountain to Neel Gap to visit the hiking store.
And at the end of the day, we roasted marshmallows just like when we were kids…..and slept with the windows open in all the clean night air.
I’m ready to go back!
September Second Friday Retirement Adventures
Retirement officially began for me August 1st, and each second and fourth Friday of every month, I’m reflecting on the first year of retirement and what it’s like in this new chapter of life. These have become some of my favorite blog posts of the month because they become a lot like what I believe Sarah Ban Breathnach was driving at in her book Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy. Focusing on the gratitude and appreciation for a new phase of life by looking at all the joy it brings is a balm for the soul. At the beginning of my first week off, I used a green spiral notebook to make a list of all the things I wanted to do — something enjoyable each week, blending in some new hobbies and routines as well. Friends and family who are still working seemed genuinely curious about what I would do with each day, and that’s what gave me the idea to plan and reflect on the course of my days and adventures. I remember my late father’s words, on retirement: You don’t retire FROM something, you retire TO something, and you’ll be busier than you’ve ever been. He was right, but the busy part is optional, like changing out of loungewear and wearing real clothes on most days.
Here are some things I’ve enjoyed in my first official six weeks of retirement. I’m keeping a running list, adding to the previous post each time I pause to reflect.
1. Mahjong 101
2. Rag Quilting
3. Morning Walking
4. Yoga
5. Friends of the Library Book Fair –
6. Local Bookstore Book Club
7. Summer Reading Poetry Book Club
8. Postcard Poetry Fest
9. Wayfaring to FDR for camping
10. Wayfaring to Margaritaville for a concert
11. Mahjong 102 and Free Play
12. Zinnia Arrangement
13. Fabric Postcards
14. Porch Sitting
15. Lounge Pants Spree
16. Novel Writing with Nick
17. Kindred Spirits Book Club
18. Barnes and Noble Virtual Book Club
And picking up where I left off at the end of August, here is how September has begun as I make my way down my list of 100 Things:
19. Re-vamping the Reading Room – I have breathed life back into my reading room and updated it by replacing some shelving and adding a few other personal touches to make it what my husband calls my own unique version of a she-shed. No matter what all is on the list of things I’m doing in retirement, the reading chair is a place I sit each day to adjust my sails. I have a Goodreads personal goal of 60 books this year – – (it’s fitting….it’s the year of 60)…..and I’m trying to get on track to accomplish the goal. By the end of this day, I will have read 31 books, leaving me 10 books behind. I’ve got some reading to do, and Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth wins the prize for September! My older daughter gave me a personalized book count tracker for Mother’s Day to go in my reading room, and it keeps me ever-aware of having the next book ready.
20. Office Cleanout – Some of the furniture I brought back from Dad’s house on St. Simons had been occupying space without real purpose or function until I could think it all through, and one is an antique desk that my brother convinced me I need – – and he was right. I’m so glad I let him persuade me to bring it home. As I find the places for each treasure, I am rethinking the best location. And in rethinking the best location, I discover that other things need to shift. And as other things need to shift, I’m cleaning up and cleaning out. I’m reminded of the children’s book If You Give a Mouse A Cookie by Laura Numeroff…..the cycles of how things take on a circular pattern. The office was one of those spaces this month, and already it feels like the air is lighter in that room.
21. Monthly Small Postcard Group – I loved the Cascadia Postcard Poetry Fest so much that I’ve already registered for 2027. Meanwhile, I’ve joined a small-scale monthly postcard group with some of my writing friends after I was invited by Denise Krebs of Yucca Valley, California. Here is the link to more information if you are interested – you can email Barbara Robinette and jump into the October round. Some of the postcards I’ve received with poems have literally taken my breath away with their beauty and depth. The artwork of these artists has inspired me to try other forms of art on my own postcards, using theirs as inspiration. I have a lonnnnng way to go, but what joy creativity brings, no matter the lack of artistic talent inside.
22. Watercolor Postcards – I created fabric postcards for Postcard Poetry Fest in August, and I have also picked up the paintbrush for watercolor postcards. My friend Glenda Funk of Chubbuck, Iowa recently shared Alex Kincaid’s Flower of the Month watercolor link, and while I will never be as talented as Glenda, I’m inspired to try the flowers. I also use the postcards that arrive to try painting similar ones, in the same way I used the fabric postcards to try that medium as well.
23. Labor Day Camping at F. D. Roosevelt State Park in Pine Mountain, Georgia – It was just too hot to be outside much, so we did some reading and movie watching (Secondhand Lions and Arthur the King). We caught up on the recent episodes of our favorite YouTubers, Mark and Tricia Leach of Keep Your Daydream. Before leaving, we packed up the dogs, threw in our loungewear and a couple of outfits into our new “suitcases” and shopped for groceries on the way, grateful we don’t overthink the camping like we used to do when we strung up lights and used an outdoor rug. And those “suitcases?” They’re the 99 cent TJ Maxx bags that hold as much as a standard airplane carryon and are flexible enough to slide right into a wardrobe cabinet in the camper, without the bulk of a big bag. My friend Christian Jackson shared this trick. So now I have a new set of four seasonal suitcases. Who knew???
24. Dolly Parton Tribute at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee – We love to go to the Grand Ole Opry from time to time, but we’d never been for a tribute or celebration to see the way all the singers come out onstage at the end. I’d seen recordings, but we finally got to be there for a momentous tribute in person. We somehow managed to score two tickets in the nosebleed section, deciding that just being there would still be a treat, even though we’d be watching on a screen with a far-off view of the stage from our high-altitude seats. There’s not a bad seat in the Opry, we’ve found, even though we were nowhere near our favorite Section 17. We took small, high-powered binoculars and sang along, breathing the air of that amazing sold-out evening and sharing stories with people all around us. I got to sit next to an 84 year old from Mississippi who had come to Opryland as a child each year and continued bringing her son throughout his childhood. She’d lost her husband five years ago, and when her son heard about the tribute, he snapped up three tickets and jumped in his plane with his new pilot’s license and flew his wife and mother to see the show. I got to see two shows that night: the tribute to Dolly, and the joy spilling out in tears on the face of that lady next to me. We heard the story that evening from one of the performers that a yellow butterfly had been flitting about the Opry, and I found a video of it here. I like to think Dolly was right there on the stage, too, all evening, soaking in the love everyone had for her.
25. September Stafford Challenge Small Group – The first Monday of each month, my small group of Stafford Challenge writers meets to talk about what we’re writing and to catch up. We share what we’re working on, we share prompts for writing, and we enjoy time together from our homes in California, Iowa, Idaho, and Georgia for one glorious hour. This month, we each read a poem we’d written and shared some of our favorite resources, including the Art of Flash Institute, Audrey Gidman’s prompts, Joy Sullivan’s Necessary Salt Substack, and Ten Poetry Notebooks of Robin Farr. Barb Edler also shared a favorite publication, Moss Piglet.
26. Stafford Challenge Writing Workshop – I attended a workshop led by Melissa Helton of the Hindman Settlement School, and it was fabulous. She shared poems of Appalachia and gave us writing prompts to lead us in the writing of four poems during this time. My favorite was Requiem for a Dollar Store Christmas Bear by Willie Carver, which we read prior to writing our own poems about precious lost childhood toys. Milk (scroll down to page 4 or so) by Diane Fisher led us to write about a time we broke a rule to do the right thing. Soon the Red Wolf by Annie Woodford inspired us to write poems about wildlife or extinct species in our own areas, and Affrilachia by Frank Walker had us writing about the intersection of two unexpected events or circumstances. Melissa Helton is one who is able to reach into a writer and awaken the muse.
27. Mahjongg Group Formation – Now that my former colleague and dear friend Christian Jackson and I have taken lessons in Mahjong, we have branched out into the world of group play. We’re finding our best fit, and we’ve learned that even the best players who are in leagues and tournaments are no more likely to win or lose at the table, because Mahjong is one of those games that requires luck AND skill, and good decision making. We’re fending off cognitive decline, too, according to recent scientific research that shows the cognitive exertion needed for the game keeps the brain cells sharp.
28. Birthday Pedicure with my Sister-In Law – It’s fun going for birthday pedicures during the day and being able to walk right up to a chair without the wait. My sister-in-law Bethany usually schedules our appointments at our favorite nail salon, and we enjoy using the time in neighboring chairs to catch up and get our legs massaged and toes painted. Unfortunately, her best friend’s father died and she was headed out of town to the funeral on her birthday, but not before we sat and chose Plum Wine (her) and Iceland (me) paint colors as colors for our feet to welcome autumn. We missed our bookstore outing to buy each other a birthday book, so I found a couple of gifts from Natural Life and got us matching mugs and socks.
29. Lunch with Friends – From Angelo’s Italian corner restaurant and Bank Street Cafe in downtown Griffin to Mangia on Main in Barnesville, lunch with friends is one of my favorite retirement indulgences. I recently caught up with former colleague Jayne Midura, who gave me a fabulous retirement t-shirt. We talked dog rescue and enjoyed catching up. She is, sadly, in the same place I was during May when I was facing the grief of letting go of an aging dog too tired and sick to carry on. Prayers for Jayne in these coming days. It’s heart wrenching to say goodbye to our fur babies.
Over the next two weeks, we’ve planned to take a birthday weekend getaway with Briar’s brother and his wife to North Georgia to stay in a cabin on a creek and have cake, and also camp in Vogel State Park in Blairsville, Georgia. I’ll share a virtual poetry reading of my poem Timestamp Tanka for the Art on the Trail celebration on Sunday as part of the Time in the Landscape series this year in Southborough, Massachusetts. My poem was selected to accompany the work Phases of the Moon for this year’s chapbook, and I couldn’t be more excited!
Retirement III Haiku
a year full of firsts:
weekdays like weekends, slow-paced
~ Mahjongging with friends
Labor Day Camping
Camping Tanka
on our favorite
campsite at our favorite
campground, reading books,
snuggling dogs, watching movies
sipping coffee, holding hands
We’re traveling more in my retirement, but the way my husband sees it, the only way we’ll stay home as much as he likes is if he keeps working, so he’s not taking the Social Security option just yet. He knows I’d pare down what’s in the house and sell most everything and take to the open road in the Wayfarer if it were up to me. I’d take us two plates, two mugs, two spoons, two forks, and two knives. I’d pack three pairs of jeans and six t-shirts, plus two pairs of sweatpants and a thin sweatshirt for pajamas. My camo Birkenstocks, one pair of sneakers, and my trusty Ugg slippers would be in my shoe cabinet. That’s pretty much how my two prescription medications and my favorite toothbrush and I would live for six months out of the year – until all the trees have grown tall enough to give us back our woodsy cocoon we once called home before they were harvested to go off and realize their ultimate destiny as telephone poles, the poor things.
In my best estimation, we’d travel by day, stopping for groceries on our way to wherever we’d camp for two or three nights. We’d take morning hikes and go exploring with the dogs, I’d press flowers between the pages of books and sketch them for watercolor paintings and bookmarks, and then we’d build campfires to sip coffee by, read books for hours, watch movies, and listen to music. I’d have to play Mahjong with bots on the computer unless I came across a group of three players needing a fourth; otherwise, we’d play Phase 10 so I could stay perpetually confused about what to discard.
We’d stop at every festival along the way so we could check out all the jams, preserves, and pickled things they’d be selling, and we’d buy some for our morning toast, along with a dozen free-range fresh eggs. And we’d throw in some homemade soap, too, probably made with the goat milk of someone’s backyard herd. It would smell like crisp mountain air with a hint of breezy wildflowers. Then we’d opt for a caramel apple instead of a funnel cake and sit in a bentwood rocker and watch the cloggers and banjos for a while before Wayfaring along on our merry way, humming some bluegrass tunes .
For today, though, we’ll watch Secondhand Lions and Arthur the King with dogs in our laps snuggled under fleecy throws, and I’ll be reading The Year of What If by Phaedra Patrick since that’s what popped up for me on Libby. Yes, for today, we’ll only have a little pat of Kerrygold tub butter on our cinnamon raisin bagels – – none of these festival preserves that must wait for another time……
Lookout Mountain Railway Incline
Chattanooga, Tennessee is home to the steepest railway incline in the world, and every time I’ve driven past the exit to go there, I always think I’d like to ride it someday.
That day was yesterday.
I was a little worried that the weird angle and any sort of strange movement might mess with my vertigo and send me into a tailspin, but it turned out that there was nothing off-kilter like strange turns or centrifugal G-force pulls to set me off. I loved the view of Chattanooga from the top and the supreme minus sausage, extra mushroom please at SoHi pizza and thought of a favorite Bible verse as I took my first bite.
For I was hungry….
Matthew 25:35
My husband studied the photos of the railway from the 1800s to the present; he loves photos that show progression of a place through time. What we didn’t know is that you can ask to be shown the machinery room and they will let you see it. We read this on a card at the bottom of the railway once we got back down to the bottom of Lookout Mountain. We thought our tickets might have worked to get back up there again but kept our pace for getting home to Georgia from our trip to Nashville with enough time to unpack and unwind before time for bed.
For I was hungry
and the pizza was there, Lord,
and I ate it all.
….but I managed to avoid the fudge counter with about twenty different types of handmade fudge including toffee and peach and peanut butter and dark espresso, so despite the temptation, I did show a little food control. And I didn’t even turn my head when I walked past all those Moon Pies.
One last stop was the Chattanooga Choo Choo, just to see the iconic building and its amazing architecture. This building is on the National Registry of Historic Places, and even the bricks on the facade are intriguing to study. We parked and walked around for just a few minutes before hopping back on I-24.
And just like that, when we finally made it home, our heads hit the pillow, exhuasted from a whirlwind trip that sapped our energy but left us with great memories. On this last day of my first full month of official retirement, I can confirm that retirement is a lot like a great trip in that way. You get up ready to go, you go, go, go, and then you crash and sleep on your bed (which is now your charging port) to recharge for the next thing you’ll want to do….whatever that turns out to be.
At The Grand Ole Opry for the Tribute to Dolly Parton
Sometimes when I’m going somewhere, I pray for a parking space before I ever pull into the parking lot. Lord, show me the way to a space to park. I often quip that I must be doing something right when the Lord blesses me with a good one. And the other way around when He doesn’t.
Same is true of Thursday afternoon when I went on a mission to see if I could get tickets to the Dolly Parton tribute at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee before they all sold out. I said a prayer and got two tickets. The kennel had space to board our four-legged sons, and there were hotel rooms available right across the street from the Opry, on Music City Drive and McGavock Pike.
I‘ve done something right.
And I’ll keep right on trying.
Thank you, Lord! Amen.
This day takes me back through the years of coming to the Grand Ole Opry. My husband’s former company was based in Nashville. He came up several times a year to meet with the team and get the company truck serviced, and each time he came I’d ask to ride along so we could go to the Opry. In those days, I was working on another degree and spent quiet days in the hotel with stronger wifi and more free coffee than my rural area offered while he went to work, and then he’d swing by and pick me up for dinner before the show. Or, if I finished working or needed a break, I was close enough to tarry over to Opry Mills Mall. It’s where I bought my first pair of Birkenstocks and where my older daughter worked at The Rainforest Cafe for years. (She had just moved to Antioch when the Christmas morning bomb exploded in the building right next to where they had lived in downtown Nashville. Ironically, the bomber had lived in Antioch. I was blessed that she was safe).
This visit to the Opry hits much differently. A legend, among the greatest humans who ever lived, gained her wings last week. She knew poverty, and she knew the rags of hard life before she ever knew the riches – which is quite literally depicted in her Coat of Many Colors and its triumphant story. She worked her way up with elbow grease and talent, blessing, and an almighty Godwink. And she has done more for Literacy in this area of the United States than anyone with her Imagination Library, inspired by her father’s inability to read and write and knowing that it would take someone with a big heart and deep pockets for some of the children of Appalachia to have a fighting chance to be literate.
I was listening to some audiobook previews to help one of my book club sisters choose a Dolly Parton book for October, and all the way up my husband and I listened to Dolly Parton, Songteller, a book about the stories of Dolly’s life and how certain moments became the inspiration for her songs. My husband was behind the wheel of the car but “along for the ride” on the audiobook, as he often is about books when we travel – and he is always a good sport about it, too. But something captured him about this one. Once we’d arrived and checked in to the hotel, he asked me to turn the audiobook back on during our rest time before we went over to the Opry.
As we made our way through the lines and into the Opry, we took in all the many different ways people arrive for this event – not just in the cars, Ubers, and taxis, but also in manner of dress. Denim shorts, tank top, cowboy boots and hat. Shorts, tshirt with butterfly wings attached, and sandals. Leather skirt just south of what it needed to cover, tank top just north, and fringed vest with silver glitter knee boots and matching cowboy hat. Jeans, sneakers, and a plain t-shirt. Formal gowns of all colors, mostly pink for the evening. I started thinking that maybe the girls’ adventure book club trip after reading the Songteller should be to come to Nashville and shop for glitter boots and cowgirl hats and then come to the Opry.
The show was just as Dolly would have wanted it to be – people remembering her through story and sharing what she meant to them. And somehow, the always-eclectic mix of talent at the Opry from the legends to the newcomers was evident…..and, of course, they all had stories of Dolly. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when T. Graham Brown stepped onstage in a pink and silver sequined coat and sang Beulahland (25:12 in the Youtube link below). One who needed tissues throughout the show was the woman seated next to me. She was Dolly’s age and had grown up visiting Opryland all her life and continued the tradition when she had her own children. She’d lost her husband five years ago, and her son and his wife had flown her to the show in their small plane. She shared how they had feverishly worked to get tickets on Thursday also and how thrilled they were to get them and make the last-minute trip. There were as many stories in the crowd as there were on the stage, as there are throughout the world.
Favorite and least favorite moments from us? My husband’s least favorite moment was when Jelly Roll came out “after such a classy show, and then he had to roll out at the end and wreck it.” I didn’t have a least favorite; I loved every minute of that show. My husband’s favorite moment was all of it except Jelly Roll. I liked that Belle Frantz sang from her heart with such passion and got a standing ovation on her Opry debut (46:10 in the link below). She shared that her first album is coming out in November, and that it’s scary to release one – – particularly a gospel album – -but that she felt bold enough to do it and took her inspiration from Dolly. I was stuck by how much she reminded me of Patsy Cline.
You can watch the YouTube of the show here and discover your own favorite and least favorite moment.
Each time I see the circle, taken from the original Ryman Auditorium downtown, I get a little misty eyed at the significance and reasons that it was installed – to preserve the sacred space of the Country music greats who have all stood here. I’ve watched the 100th Anniversary a hundred times and can hear the song and the chorus of voices singing it – Will the circle be unbroken, by and by, Lord, by and by….there’s a better home awaiting in the sky, Lord, in the sky. I think of the history of Dolly Parton’s presence on that stage, and the way she could immediately connect with her audience, and the way that even in her absence, her Opry family connected with her – giving her the final performance of the evening. I think of this night of tribute and the many more that her musical family are offering, like Pink’s. And so many more ways she is being honored all across the nation and the world.
Of all the great Opry moments we have missed, I’m glad that last night was not one of them. I always leave looking forward to the next visit to The Grand Ole Opry.
