Burningtown News, Sunday, January 17, 2016

Hello to good people all over the world!

PRAYER REQUESTS

Please remember the following in your prayers this week.

Lucy Mason   Ken Shepherd   Nell Duvall Welch   Lori Impagliatelli   Harry Henry   Melba Martin   Melba West   Meredith Jones   Clarence Scott
Linda Campbell   Pamela West   Bob Bryson   Sue Martin   Oweila T F   Sue West   Beatrice Deweese   Wayne Powers   Charles West   Tom Needham

Today we honor the memory of Burningtown native, Nat Henry, who was buried in the Burningtown Church Cemetery Sunday afternoon. Nat served his country all through his life and was a POW during the Vietnam War.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Rev. Brian Holland will bring the message on Sunday morning, January 24 2016, at 11:00, at Burningtown Baptist Church.

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From Macon County Library

Classic Rodgers & Hammerstein Musical "South Pacific" on Friday, Jan. 22 at 2:00 p.m. in the Macon County Public Library Meeting Room-
On a South Pacific island during WWII, love blooms between a young nurse and a secretive Frenchman who's being courted for a dangerous military mission. 2 hrs. 37 min.

Kristina Lynn Moe
kmoe@fontanalib.org
Macon County Public Library
149 Siler Farm Road
Franklin, NC 28734
828-524-3600
fontanalib.org
facebook.com/FontanaRegionalLibrary


ARTICLES, LETTERS, POEMS, PICTURES AND THINGS

My family has just came through the hardest year I can remember. But ONLY by the grace of God, we did all make it through. This verse that God has led me too today is so perfect for me it just brought me to tears. No, for me that is not unusual, I don't know if I have ever written one of these without a tear or two falling. You don't know how many times Satan tried to convince me we were at the end and it wasn't going to be a happy ending. But Satan is a liar. When my heart was overwhelmed, God kept me where I needed to be, doing what I needed to be doing. God is "the rock that is higher than I". He has never failed me. New beginnings are happening this new year, prayers are being answered. One day we will understand why we've had to go through these storms and we'll all be better for it. This I know for sure, I have come too far to turn back now. Not giving up, not giving in! I hope you have a blessed week! Donna Mathis :)


Hello Roy,

I just wanted to let you know that I'm still reading all the articles from Burningtown Newspaper. I really enjoy reading you and your wife's articles! Hope all is going well for you! I'm still working at Tri-County Community College. I work in the Support Computer Lab in the McSwain building. If you ever get the chance you should drop by and see me!

Take care,
Donnie

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Thanks for getting the Burningtown News to all of us. The week is not right unless we have it.

Dot Crawford

EC: It is good to hear from Readers. We hope all will write.

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"You Could Stack A Lot Of Hay In A Barn This Big"
Larry Alan Reeves, Region A Long Term Care Ombudsman
Southwestern Commission- Area Agency on Aging

Several years ago I went to the Southeastern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament. It was a big deal. There were thousands of people in attendance. The games were played in the Thompson-Boling Arena on the campus of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
My friend, Jim, and I enjoyed every game of every session. We managed to get some decent seats. The games were entertaining and competitive. A couple of the games went to over-time before a winner was determined. There were several outstanding players on the teams; a couple of All-Americans in fact.

Jim was a retired federal employee from Oak Ridge, Tennessee Department of Defense factories. Following his retirement, he had served a couple of terms as the mayor of a small town in the eastern part of Tennessee. He played golf as often as he possibly could. He was very good; shooting in the low 80s on a consistent basis. I always enjoyed his company.
He was born and raised in Middlesboro, Kentucky. His father was a coal-miner; often working days in tunnels far below the surface. Following a term of service in the Army, Jim and his wife (Irene) had settled in Tennessee and raised their two children, Ann and Tommy. It is important to note, Jim was a dedicated fan of the University of Kentucky (UK) Wildcats. His knowledge of the history and legacy of the UK men's basketball program often led to some interesting and entertaining conversations. He had maintained some connections to UK, enabling us to get the tickets for the tournament.

The Thompson-Boling Arena is HUGE! When it was opened in the mid-1980s it was the largest on campus sports arena in the nation. The seating capacity for a basketball game is around 25,000+/-. Naturally, the arena was almost filled to capacity during the tournament. Each of the teams brought their contingent of fans to support them. The colors displayed by the fans throughout the arena were impressive. It was interesting to watch the colors worn by the fans change as teams lost their games and their fans left, being replaced by large numbers of fans for the teams that remained. By the time of the finals the team colors of the two teams vying for the championship were the most dominant.

We were sitting in our seats, watching the two teams that would compete in the next game get in their warm-ups. During the lull in activities Jim had been looking the arena over. He had commented on the distance from the "nose bleed seats" (high atop the area) to the playing floor. He had wondered aloud about the ability of the fans in those seats to view the action on the court. Finally, just before the next game was to tip-off, Jim leaned over next to me and said, "You could stack a lot of hay in a barn this big". His comments sent me on a trip down memory lane as I thought about all of those long, hot days of years gone by when I had stacked a lot of hay in big barns. While that type of work is hard and demanding, a clean hay-field and a full barn-loft/shed are rewarding.

I have been pondering that day when Jim made his comments. At times it is hard to see that I am accomplishing anything in my world of "paper shuffling and data entry". It often seems as though I am not getting anywhere or getting anything done. The end of a busy day often results in nothing more than a clean desk for me to start fresh with my next morning. Sometimes, the thing that helps get me through the day is to simply visualize the day as just another load of baled hay being stacked in a big old barn.

By the way, do you know how to go about filling a big barn with bales of hay? You do it one bale at a time. How do you go about living your life? One day at a time. Our common goal (I hope!) is to do a good job cleaning "our" hay-fields and filling "our" barn-lofts/sheds with neatly stacked bales.

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Larry Reeves
Long Term Care Ombudsman
Region A, Southwestern Commission
125 Bonnie Lane
Sylva, North Carolina 28779
(828)586-1962, ext. 223
FAX (828)586-1968
www.regiona.org
larry@regiona.org

"I love the unimproved works of God." (Horace Kephart, 1906)

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A DAY WITH GRANDMA CORDIE
By: Nita Welch Owenby


When I was very young, maybe four of five years old, I loved to visit Grandpa Deck and Grandma Cordie Welch up on the hill above our house at the original old home place. Going up that hill was a real pull, but Mamma would let me go because she knew I was heading up to hear stories from Grandpa.

However, they had a few chickens, and one of the meanest roosters that ever existed. I'd swear that rooster stood on his perch at the top of the hill and watched for us kids so he could attack and give us a hard time. My older sister, Violet, was his favorite, since she was afraid of everything, and he would run her back home if Grandma didn't come to her rescue. But not me! I hated that rooster and carried a stick to scare him off, and it was a big stick. One day as I was heading up the hill I saw him coming. He had his red feathers all puffed out and I was sure his eyes were also as red as the old devil's which I'd seen in picture books. When he got real close, I swung my stick and hit him in the head dead center. At first I thought I'd killed him, and I just knew that Grandma would whip my bottom. But he finally got up, shook his head and staggered back to the little chicken house. I never had any more trouble with that rooster. When I got up to the house, I didn't tell Grandma anything about the rooster. Mamma had told me I could spend the night with them, and I was afraid if Grandma knew I'd hurt her rooster she'd send me home.

Later on when Grandma was cooking supper, I could tell it was going to be good from the delicious aromas that drifted through the house and made my mouth water. She was a good cook, and I especially liked her chocolate cake. The cake was plain and made from scratch, but the icing hardened into a "chocolate candy". But Grandma would never let me have desert unless I cleaned my plate. That day she had black-eyed peas, which I hated at that time. Knowing I had to eat the peas in order to get some cake, I held my breath and shoveled them down as fast as I could, hoping not to taste them. But I ate them so fast, Grandma thought I liked them and gave me a second helping. I ate that second helping, too, but it wasn't easy. And I finally got my delicious slice of chocolate candy cake.

Earlier in the afternoon when she was just starting supper, Grandma told me if I would carry in a load of fire wood for the kitchen stove she would give me a Brownie. Since I was only four or five years old, to me a Brownie was a little elf man that I had heard about from children's fairytales. I couldn't carry but two or three sticks of wood at a time, but I finally filled up the wood box that set on the floor near the old kitchen stove. While I was working, I kept wondering what I would do with the little elf man that Grandma was going to give me. I decided I would let him sleep in a dresser drawer in the bedroom, because I was afraid someone might step on him in the dark, him being so small. And I figured that I could get Mamma to help me make him little clothes, as she made all of our clothes and could probably make his out of the scraps that were left over. I told Grandma I had the box full of wood, and waited while she went into her "secret bedroom" that we kids were never allowed to enter. I was so excited to see my little elf man, but when Grandma came out of the bedroom she gave me a penny. Back in her time a penny was called a brownie, but I didn't know that, and I was very disappointed. I was glad to get the penny, but I just couldn't understand why I didn't get my little elf. Life surely was full of disappointments for a child back in what was known as the Good 'Ole Days.

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A FEW WORDS ABOUT COMMUNICATION
By: Roy Owenby


It is said that most of us have a vocabulary of 50,000 words and yet, we only use about 4,000, and unfortunately, some of us use even less. Typically, we will use more words when we write than when we speak. A lot of us have lazy language; I know I do. Too often, we will try to communicate with the least words possible. Sometimes this is effective; sometimes it's confusing. For example, simple things should be easy to convey, but are they really? The fact that I'm hungry seems easy to communicate. Just saying, "I'm hungry," lets everyone in the room know that my stomach is calling for food. But if I say it, what do I really mean by it? Am I letting my spouse know that she is falling down on the job because I haven't eaten, or am I telling her that I want her to prepare me something to eat or neither? Perhaps I mean that I plan to get up and fix something to eat myself or maybe I'm on a diet and I'm just complaining because I'm not getting enough to eat. It's really amazing that just speaking two simple words can mean so many things. To really understand what I meant, one must know the context in which I'm speaking. The plain fact is that communication really isn't so simple after all.

Our facial expressions and body language are also an important part of our everyday communication. When I say, "I'm hungry," do I have a smile on my face or a frown? What do my hands do when I'm saying it? If I'm upset because I haven't eaten, my voice inflection will sound angry, and I might make a fist while I'm talking. If I'm trying to convey to my spouse that I'm looking forward to dining out with her, my face may light up with pleasure at the thought of amiable conversation while I enjoy her company. Meanwhile, how is my spouse reacting to my statement? She may be thinking about something else and not even hear me. If we are on good terms at the moment, I may just recognize that she didn't hear me and simply repeat the statement. If we've been a little ill with each other lately, I may get upset because she didn't hear me. This then will bring on an angry response. I say the same words but my voice is now filled with annoyance. "I'M HUNGRY," I say in a louder voice, hoping this will get her undivided attention. This may work and she may respond favorably or she may respond in kind. "What would you like, dear?" Or if I have irritated her, she may say, "Well get up, go to the kitchen and fix something!" Now, all of this is hypothetical, of course, but it illustrates the complexity that can arise out of interpersonal communications.

Our entire language structure is a system that evolved out of older languages such as Greek and Latin. When we travel to other countries, we are suddenly confronted with a language barrier. If I'm in France, the French expect me to speak their language. If I don't; they aren't really helpful. If they visit our country, we don't help them much because very few of us speak French. The way they help us or we help them has a lot to do with how we feel about each other.

Learning another language is not simple and requires a lot of time. Most of us have enough trouble just learning our own language. Mastering a language system takes many years even by the smartest of us, and the older we get, the harder it is. If we're fortunate enough to have a friend who is fluent in another language, he or she might volunteer to teach us. This is really the easiest way to learn because we are getting it from the "horse's mouth" so to speak. Most people learn a language by taking a structured course, either in high school or college. This is good and we learn the proper way to write and speak that language. Unfortunately, what we find when we go to use it is that we haven't learned any of the colloquialisms, and this can become a language barrier. And of course, if we don't use it, we lose it rapidly.

While I was visiting in England, I found that their English is not the same as our English. It wasn't the same as learning a different language, but communication was often difficult. Sometimes it was even funny. An Englishman walked up to me in a train station and said, "I say, guv, are you in the queue?" I looked at him like I didn't know what he was talking about, and he looked at me like I was ignoring him. If it hadn't been for his British accent, I might have understood him, but I doubt it. He was talking about the line to the ticket window, but we don't call it a queue, even though that's what it is. Since I know what a queue is, I finally understood when he pointed to the line. He was actually being polite, but I didn't know it at first. I asked a lady how to get to the archives and she said, "Try the apples and pears." I had to ask someone else that one. A cockney Brit told me that she meant to go up the stairs, which as it turned out, was exactly where the archives were located. I must have encountered a hundred of those, and they tell me that they have the same problem when they visit the United States.

It's believed by anthropological linguists that language was developed as a means of survival. When one had a saber tooth tiger hot on his tail, it was a good thing for his friend or neighbor to sound a warning that could be understood. Actually, that's still a good thing. Over the centuries, language developed into more sophisticated means of speaking and writing. Even so, communicating in a clear, concise manner is still an art form. Often, those who excel at making themselves understood rise to the top of their chosen field. The rest of us muddle through life as best we can. Recently, out of the blue, I said to Nita, "I'm hungry." She replied, "I just baked an apple pie. It will be cool enough to eat in about an hour." Now, there's a woman who knows how to communicate. After all, she understands that I would climb Siler Bald for a slice of her homemade pie.

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ACTIVITIES OF THE WEEK

Tuesday, Jeff Parrish came up here. He came in, sat down, and stayed for about an hour. It was good to talk with him.

Wednesday, LF went to church Wednesday night. She did not get to go for supper but she was there for the lesson. I do not know exactly what they had to eat. ST came up here and visited during the lesson. She worked on LF's jigsaw puzzle for awhile. MF and ST also watched Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. GT came and visited after the service. The lesson was from Revelations. Reverend Holland has begun a new series of lessons based on Revelations. You're invited to come have supper and study with us at Burningtown Baptist on Wednesday nights.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday, LF worked on her jigsaw puzzle rather than her word puzzles. The puzzle she's working on now has 1000 pieces and is very challenging. She loves a challenge! When she's not working on her puzzles, she's busy cooking for MF, cleaning for MF and just generally taking good care of MF.

Saturday, JG and LG went to Asheville to visit CMG. They went shopping for a chair for MF because the one that MF got for Christmas from JG, LG, ST, GT, GJ and JFJ didn't work very well. Here are pictures of MF and LF with the new chair. This chair fits them much better than the first one.

Sunday, MF, LF, JG and LG went out to ST and GT's for lunch. It was an exceptional lunch of baked potatoes (grown by LF), grilled asparagus, Paula Dean's rolls, and the most marvelous rib-eye steaks we've eaten in a long time! Dessert was a lemon chess pie that ST cooked using lemons from LF and cornmeal from George Lynch. The steaks came from the Nantahala Meat Market. ST and GT stopped at the meat market on Friday afternoon and purchased the steaks. The market is expanding and ST got a look around at the remodeled and upgraded facilities from owner Steve Whitmire. There will be quite a few new products in the future. We're looking forward to the expanded market.


Sunday evening, a GT, ST, JG,LG and several other esteemed people gathered at Speedy's Pizza in Sylva. The pizza was delicious and great fellowship was shared by all. Luckily, they were put in the downstairs room so they didn't disturb the upstairs patrons!


ST and GT have placed a wildlife camera on top of their mountain. They've seen quite a variety of wildlife species. Here's a picture of the wildlife they captured on camera this week!

We thought you might be interested in this photo of LF's father's family. The photo was taken at the old home place of LF's Aunt Lizzie Ray. Note the icicles hanging below the water bucket. The family is: front row, L-R: Viola Edwards (West), Elizabeth "Lizzie" Edwards (Ray), Paralee Edwards (Duvall), William Murray "Will" Edwards, Charity Coleman Edwards; back row, L-R: Lee Edwards, Andrew Edwards, Absolom Joshua "Absie" or A. J." Edwards, Robert "Bob" Edwards.

A very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our staff photographer Ralph Preston!

 

We hope you have a wonderful and blessed New Year throughout 2016.
Remember the poor man and his illustrious little wife on Lower Burningtown.


MF, Editor
LF, Operations Editor
ST, Circulations Manager
RO, Feature Story Author
NWO, Feature Story Author
AM, Arts Illustration Editor
RP, Photographic Editor
JK, Assistant Photographic Editor
DB, Copier
JB, Assistant Photographic Editor