Mincey’s Musings
Year One, Week 21

My mind sometimes wanders back forty-five years ago to my third grade class. Florence Chesney used practically every minute of every day teaching us moral values, especially in reading class.

Remember the pictures in those old readers? They practically begged us to read the stories we were assigned. Ms. Chesney read every story aloud to us, enunciating each word and phrase exactly the way she wished us to express it when we read aloud later in the week. In other words, she taught by example.

As the nation came apart in 1861, East Tennesseans stood strong for the Union. After the American Civil War, many of the former Union Veterans joined the Grand Army of the Republic. The Captain Daniel Meador Post, at Fincastle, Tenn. was named for my cousin Daniel Meador.

Years after the war, GAR members, would march, as best they could, from the Old Sugar Hollow Church, which also served as a GAR meeting hall, on Decoration Day to the Old Baker’s Forge Cemetery where they would decorate the graves of deceased Union veterans.

Elm trees have been appreciated by humans for many generations, primarily as a stoic large urban tree lining streets and shading landscapes. During the 18th and 19th centuries it was one of the most popular landscape trees in Europe and America. Native Americans also revered the tree for its medicinal qualities. We have several native species.

How old were you when you learned to drive? Twelve or so if you grew up on a farm and learned to drive on the tractor. A man in our Memoir Class had a driving experience at the age of fourteen. That one took off the door of the family car. Not a good thing to do. My experience wasn't any better. I remember it well.

It wasn’t uncommon for strangers to pull into our driveway while I was growing up. If we were outside, the strangers rolled down their windows and stuck their heads out.

“Hey! Did you all know you got a cow out?”

I grew up on my Papaw’s farm where he had lots and lots of cows. To me, the cows were big, scary and stinky. When I got older, they were just stinky.

Bull Run Creek ran through his farm and Pedigo Road bisected it. Our church used to baptize there next to the bridge. Now, the bridge is known as the “Mary Lou Horner Memorial Bridge.”

It was once believed that taking pain medication and getting some rest and relaxation were the best course of treatment for a bout of low-back pain, but nowadays research supports first trying drug-free, conservative options for pain management while remaining as active as possible during recuperation.

We never ate pork chops when I was a youngster. Pork steak was cheaper. When you find a meat you can afford, your next task is to find a way to fix it that the family will eat. We loved pork steak fixed Mother's way.

Life savers are important people–be it a doctor, nurse or someone who pulled you out of harms way. Frank “Tommy” Sharp is one of us even though he left Union County for the Atlanta area many years ago. A few years ago Frank had some serious heart problems, and he credits his cardiologist with saving his life. Dr. Michael Lesitt first did a bypass when Frank had a heart attack and then a quadruple bypass to bring him back to good health. Dr. Lesitt, who Frank says is a man of many talents, plays the mountain dulcimer and has been president of the Georgia Dulcimer Society.

MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (May 15, 2018) ― Leslie Ann Beeler, of Maynardville, TN, graduated from Milligan College on Saturday, May 5, during spring commencement, in which Milligan awarded over 180 degrees. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science and Psychology. Milligan is a Christian liberal arts college in Johnson City, Tennessee, whose vision is to change lives and shape culture through a commitment to servant leadership.

Who was accepted in the draft during World War II? Any man breathing without a wooden leg, or so it seemed. At the last class we learned of a man who was blind in one eye. He was drafted. Of course he didn't see combat, but he did serve in the motor pool at a base in Texas. The armed forces are much different now. I doubt he would be called to serve, if there was still a draft. The draft back then was more of a lottery. Numbers were drawn by members of the local draft board. Many a man waited anxously to see if his number came up.