Blue Ridge Poet
Poetry about the beauty, heritage and history of the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina appear on this blog.
Saturday, March 16, 2024
CELEBRATE SPRING
Wednesday, March 13, 2024
HAPPY ST. PADDY'S DAY
UNICORNS CELEBRATE ST. PADDY'S DAY
HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY TO MY BLOGGER FRIENDS!
Tuesday, March 5, 2024
Spring Bursts Forth
Friday, February 16, 2024
Christmas in Matheson Cove
My new children's picture book, Christmas in Matheson Cove, is at press now.
I'm very excited about the release of my family history story. Catch the Spirit of Appalachian is printing the book.
More information is upcoming.
Wednesday, February 14, 2024
Up the Walnut Tree
My sister, Barbara Ledford Wright, is the guest writer on my blog. She's an award-winning writer and has been published in many journals. Her story is about our family growing up in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Friday, January 12, 2024
THE APPALACHIAN SERENADE
My mama and daddy when they were married on June 26, 1938 in Towns County, Georgia
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I grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina. One mountain custom was serenading a newly married couple. This loud and upsetting event occurred during the night of their wedding.
Shivaree dated back to sixteenth-century France. A couple was teased on the wedding night. Appalachian folks called this raucous, spontaneous celebration serenading.
The community serenaded the couple about a half hour after they turned out the lights. Neighbors circled the house, and made a loud noise. Folks banged on pots and pans, rang cowbells, and even shot guns. They shouted for the couple to come outside.
Sometimes the serenaders carried the bride in a tub, and the groom rode a rail. One custom including parading the couple to the country store where they were treated to snacks.
The community serenaded Mama and Daddy (Blanche and Rondy Ledford), when they married on June 26, 1938. Neighbors circled the red-plank house. They banged on dishpans, sang, and rode my parents across Swaims Road in wheelbarrows.
After the serenading, they held a shindig. The mountain women prepared tons of food for the celebration. Mrs. Lacey Groves, a neighbor lady, brought her delicious, made-from-scratch marble pound cake. The men picked guitars and sawed fiddles while folks danced the night away.
This old-time mountain tradition has passed away, but remains as a favorite memory how the community serendaded newly married couples.
by: Brenda Kay Ledford
This story appeared in: Our Southern Memories Journal; Volume 18, January/February 2024
Wednesday, November 29, 2023
THE HOLIDAY TOUR
The Golden Club was offering a holiday tour of Little Switzerland, NC. Mama and I donned our Christmas sweaters and boarded the bus. We were giggling like two children.
A merry group of senior citizens greeted us. Everyone was decked out in festive garbs. Some wore reindeer antlers, others were dressed as elves, and ornaments flashed around the necks of passengers.
Anticipation mounted as we crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains. We were making good time until two women delayed our trip. The bus waited 30 minutes in the parking lot at Ingles for the ladies. Finally, they looked in their rearview mirror and discovered the bus was already there.
Someone muttered, "Good night! Looks like they could have seen something big as a bus!"
Mama and I were so exhausted when we got to Little Switzerland, that we went straight to bed. At 2:00 in the morning, Mama headed to the restroom. She pulled, yanked, and banged on the door. She couldn't open it.
I was groggy, could hardly speak. "Mama, stop! That's not the bathroom. It's the door to the adjacent room. Those two ladies who delayed our trip are there."
Mama muttered something about "the old goof balls," and finally found the door to the bathroom. Despite the obstacles, we had a jolly, holly trip to the beautiful alpine village that was decorated and decked out like Santa's workshop.
This story first appeared in: To All a Good Night, a poetry and prose anthology, printed by: Old Mountain Press.
PEACE, JOY and LOVE
to
You and Yours
THIS CHRISTMAS!
Mama and Me Celebrating
THE HOLIDAY
Wednesday, November 1, 2023
November
Wednesday, October 11, 2023
In Memory of Mama
Today if Mama had lived, she would be 101. She passed away two years ago and I still miss her. We were best friends, took trips together, went to church together, we enjoyed each other's company. Some people may think I "should have" gotten over the grief, moved on with life. Sure, life goes on and I must go on, too. But today I grieve the loss of Mom. Of course, I believe she's in heaven, but I still miss her. Always will. I've written a poem about her and posting it in celebration of precious Mom.
Blanche, Blue Ridge Woman
Wednesday, September 20, 2023
FALLING INTO FALL
Wishing all my blogger friends Happy Halloween!
Wednesday, August 23, 2023
Signs of Fall
It's beginning to look a lot like fall here in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina. There's no holding back autumn. The first trees to turn are the walnuts. Golden leaves flutter on the wind as the sunflowers lift their cups to drink light.
A wedge of wild geese honks over the cornfield that glitters like copper. Goldenrods waltz beside Hyatt-Mill Creek babbling past the Grove Farm. Shewbird Mountain wears a purple shawl in the distance. Cardinals spear red berries from the dogwood trees and lilac asters bring bouquets to Swaims Road.
The evenings grow cooler and our Hayesville High School football team plays their rivals. Our local church holds a luncheon for the Clay County Schools and I wear gold and black to support the Yellow Jackets. I pick up a cake at the Ingles Grocery with the message: Bless our schools!
Each fall my heart is drawn toward the school. As a retired educator, I will always long to teach kids. I can almost smell the chalk, hear the kids treading down the hall, and standing at the door greeting each child to my classroom. My heart fills with love for my students.
Fall is a beautiful season. I love the bright colors, the wildflowers, football games, pumpkin pie, apple cider, and the Fall Festival held in our mountain town.
Some call it autumn, others call it God!
Saturday, August 5, 2023
Sunflower
Tuesday, August 1, 2023
Town Creek--the Little Mountain Stream
TOWN CREEK