PILGRIMS AND INDIANS

The students at Carolina Christian Academy are celebrating Thanksgiving with their Indian headbands. They are sweet children and my mother and I enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving lunch with the students.

These sweet children look adorable wearing their pilgrim hats.

Students at Carolina Christian Academy in Hayesville, NC are celebrating fall and Thanksgiving with artwork. On Friday, I told my children's story, "A Child's Thanksgiving," at the school. The children were real sweet and looked adorable wearing their pilgrim and Indian hats. Mrs. Crystal Rumfelt is the administrator of the academy. For details, call: (828)-389-4777, or visit: http://www.hayesvillefreewill.org/.

A CHILD'S THANKSGIVING

Tom Turkey stood alone in the barnyard. He kicked a stone and wished he had a friend.

Ant poked her head out of the nest. “Why are you kicking my house?” she asked.

“I don’t have anyone to play with,” gobbled Tom Turkey. “Will you be my friend?”

Ant shook her antennae. “No way!” she cried. “Who wants to play with someone who kicks in your house?”

Tom Turkey dropped his head. He wobbled across the barnyard into the woods. He saw Squirrel picking up walnuts.

“That looks fun,” gobbled Tom Turkey. “May I play with you?”

Squirrel frowned. “I don’t have time to play. I’m gathering food for my children.”

Tom Turkey wiped away tears. No one wanted to play with him.

A goose flew over honking loudly.

“Would you please be quiet?” asked Tom Turkey.

“I’m looking for my friends,” honked Goose. “A storm separated us. This is the worst Thanksgiving I’ve ever had.”

Tom Turkey spread his wings and dug up leaves in the woods. “I have an idea!”

“What?” asked Goose.

“Why don’t you and I spend Thanksgiving together? Everyone needs a friend. So Tom Turkey and Goose gathered hickory nuts, persimmons, and sunflower seeds. They had a feast for Thanksgiving.

HARVEST

Waterfalls tumbling over boulders,

layers of mountains unfurling

bolts of burnt sienna,

a sailboat drifts across

Lake Chatuge glittering with gold.

Penguin clouds skate through

coral skies, geese blow their trumpets

above Shewbird Mountain,

white-tailed deer glide over

a split-railed fence.

Gathering apples, sweet scent fills

the shed, apple butter boiling.

Pumpkins heaped beside cornstalks,

harvesting the onions, hanging them

on the back porch to dry.

Family gathered around the table,

Randy carves the turkey,

John and I break the wish bone.

Mama and Barbara giggle.

Pa Paw Rondy returns thanks

for a bountiful harvest.

--Brenda Kay Ledford

ROCKY MOUNT MUSEUM

This pioneer woman is working in the herb garden.

You'll get an idea how pioneers celebrated Thanksgiving when you visit Rocky Mount Museum in Piney Flats, TN. History comes alive here.

Tour guides dressed in period costumes demonstrate the daily lives of frontier families. You'll experience 18th century lifestyle in the blacksmith shop, woodworking shop, weaving cabin, and even taste food cooked over an open hearth in the kitchen.

Don't expect the tour guides to understand modern terms. When Mama told an 18th century woman, we traveled by bus to the museum, the lady was shocked. Mama never could make the pioneer understand the meaning of "bus".

Rocky Mount Museum takes you back 300 years. What an experience. For details, call: (423)538-7396. This man is splitting wood in the woodworking shop.

This pioneer woman shows tourists the parlor in her log cabin.

A log cabin at Rocky Mount Museum.

This pioneer woman cooking over an open hearth.

This young man demonstrates how to card wool.

These men are blacksmithing.

The barnyard at Rocky Mount Museum.

A BLUE RIDGE THANKSGIVING

Granddaddy Bob Ledford took his wagon one November and moved a family to Franklin, NC during the 1920’s. Back then, there was no paved road across the rugged Blue Ridge Mountains. It was nothing more than a muddy pig trail through the wilderness.

Thanksgiving was coming, but Granddaddy figured he would get home in time to eat Grandma Minnie’s pumpkin pie. The weather had been mild, and he did not anticipate any problems traveling across the mountains.

It took days to drive the team to Franklin, but they made it without any problems. As he came back, Granddaddy noticed angry clouds churning above Chunky Gal Mountain and the wind whipped his face like a razorblade. Snowflakes twirled like feathers to the ground. When he came to Buck Creek, Granddaddy could not ford it because the water was frozen. He had to drive the team on ice.

Moment by moment the temperature dropped. Granddaddy Bob stopped in the woods to build a fire. He was going to spend the night there, but couldn’t sleep on the cold ground. He gave it up and moved on.

Granddaddy came to Rainbow Springs and saw a dim light flickering in the distance. He happened upon a log cabin. He explained his circumstances to the mountain couple who opened the door.

“Come in, Mr. Ledford,” said the old man. “We’ll be glad to put you up for the night. The coyotes will attack you and you’ll freeze to death in this snowstorm.”

“I’d be much obliged if I could spend the night,” said Granddaddy. “I’ll be glad to pay you.”

“Shucks!” said the old man. “Get in here before you freeze to death. I’ll put your horses in the barn.”

Granddaddy thawed out before the fireplace and swapped tales with the mountain couple. He pulled his harmonica out of his overalls pocket and played “Dixie” and some other tunes. When it was time to turn in, the mountain couple wrapped an iron in a rag and put it at his feet in the featherbed. The next morning he got up with blisters on his feet.

After a hardy breakfast of biscuits and gravy, ham and eggs, strong coffee, and sorghum syrup, Granddaddy thanked the mountain couple for their hospitality, invited them to “come see him if they were ever in his neck of the woods,” and headed home.

As he drove his team of horses through the snow, Granddaddy shot a wild turkey in the pine thickets. It graced the dinner table as he and his family celebrated Thanksgiving in the Matheson Cove. Granddaddy Bob Ledford thanked the Lord for the mountain couple who saved his life during the Appalachian snowstorm.