Eleven Eleven, 11:11

Historical Photo:

                     Bright Angel trail 1902 grand Canyon

Here goes.........
I could continue about my early life. I had wonderful parents. Shirl and I were the ‘second litter’ so our parents were older than our peer’s parents. My brothers were away and winning WWII, before I entered the first grade. But I will skip ahead.  

 WE have lived in six states and Cuba, resulting in 17 or 18 moves to Permanent homes. Together we have visited 26+ countries traveling over a million miles when the RV’ing life is counted also. That is to all 50 states and most Canadian provinces. We have never been disappointed in the beauty of the world nor the people.

Sherry and I were blessed to be raised into adulthood by loving parents. I do not know what it would be like to be in an ‘unloving’ atmosphere.  We are blessed to be able to live about anywhere we would like. We have nice homes, we  augment our style with the rent from them. I guess we never got over a ‘small love nest’, since we started off in a 26x8 trailer.


A paragraph ago I looked back and my girl was in the bed, time to go tuck her in and get some  great kisses. I did. We have a standard ‘funny’, we are so regulated I tuck her in and am getting my kisses more times at 11:11 than any other time. Tonight with the last great kiss, I looked at the clock by the bed, it was 11:11, our magic time!


I know a lot of 1 & 2 lines of songs. A favorite around 11:11 . One of us will start:  
               You made me so very happy
Then the other will join in:
       I'm so glad you Came into my life
And we sing ALWAYS together:
       Thank you baby, Thank you baby
 (Blood, Sweat and Tears?)

The motor home fits us. Like most folk we have had our share of family problems. Kids and grands going OFF track.  But together we weather the storms. The Motor Home is our HOME, and home is where we park it. Not everyone can live in a small space, but it is us.
Nite Shipslog

PS:  States?  I am starting with Alabama. It may bore folks from Bama, but I hope some of it will be interesting.

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Known as the Heart of Dixie, Alabama is a state in the southern United States. Named after a word that means "tribal town," Alabama became the 22nd state in the United States in 1819. Alabama's major cities include Montgomery, Birmingham, Mobile, Huntsville and Tuscaloosa. Its primary industries are agriculture, electricity production and mining. 

 
During the Civil War, Montgomery, the state capital, was the capital of the Confederate States of America. Because of this, Montgomery is known as the " Cradle of the Confederacy." It is also the birthplace of the Confederate Constitution, and where Jefferson Davis was sworn in as President of the Confederacy in Alabama.
 

Transportation at statehood:

More of my dad, from the eyes of a 6 year old.

Historical Photo:

That picture was taken in 1903. The man is Alonzo (Lon) Darnell. His daddy had been a Confederate POW. That young lady is Mae Etta Hilley Darnell. She was born in 1888. She was 15 years old. The baby is my daddy Frank Benjamin Darnell, the Frank is from Frank James a hero of Lon's. There would be 12 more children to that tough lady, 11 would live. (The next boy was named Jesse)

Now for tonight:
Cokes, a pack of crackers or a bag of salted peanuts were a nickel each. It was in the late 1940’s. When I was little, most folks I knew had first names of ‘Brother or Sister.’ The church clerk was Brother Turner, he was my new friend Sonny’s daddy. I was playing ‘cars’ with Sonny at his house when I heard ‘that new preacher’ mentioned so I listened, what I heard:

You wouldn’t believe it. (Brother Turner was saying) He is nothing like any preacher we ever had. Our first business meeting he said he thought God’s money should be spent wisely. Said y’all are paying $75 a month to rent a house for me and my family. It is the nicest home we ever had, but I walked thru the house next door to the church, that you own, and wonder why I am not living there?
I told him there was no water the city said the war had taken most of the supplies needed and now that the war was over, the city said it would be two years before getting us water. And besides we planned to tear it down. It is an old mill house and needs a lot of work.
You know what he said? He said, when he left the farm he lived in a mill house and worked in the mill. He said, “If I can get water, is it okay if we fix up the house and save God’s money for missions or some other good projects?”
Well buddy he was as good as his word, we got water! Now he is fixing up that house. We cannot believe him,  in ‘overhauls’ and working harder than anybody. That preacher laughs, sweats and has a good time. The man can preach too! That is the gist of what I heard.

Well, my dad always amazed me at his ability to ‘work’. We moved out of that nice home into the 2 bedroom house. I was in the same room with Shirl again. I didn’t mind. I was now in the first grade, she must have been in the third.
Daddy was eventually 'live' on the radio in Burlington.

We then lived only two blocks from Sonny and Hurley, my new friends. It was a 3 block walk to school and I could see squirrels walking the power lines between telephone poles, they amazed me with their agility.  Life was good.
My daddy started off as a Georgia share cropper. Nobody ever said, “That man is a slacker.”

Nite Shipslog

PS:  The Last of the Little known facts about the USA, from Cousin Tony: South Florida is the only place in the world where alligators and crocodiles coexist in the wild.

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Next blogs we will have some facts about Alabama

But now, today’s automobile!
 1930 Rustonmodel

A working preacher

Historical Photo:

This is the actual home of the Walton's where the stories were written used in the long running TV show 'The Walton's', we actually found it in Virginia accidentally on one of our trips.

Tonite's  stuff:
The church had no water, even though back then it was in the city limits. The preacher was a determined man. He asked for volunteer workmen Saturday morning and he would show them how to get water. Ten grown men showed up along with a lot of us boys.

After thanking everyone for showing up, he stood on a spot towards the back of the property. Took a pick, stuck it in the ground in front of him then around him. He then measured the distance  and took a had saw and cut the handle. He started digging he turned in a circle about 5 feet in diameter. He pointed to some shovels and asked two men to shovel the dirt he had loosened.

As they worked he explained, we are digging a well. It will take some time, but we need water.

“Hey Preacher, don’t you need a water witcher to find water?” one asked.

Another asked, “Pastor, have you prayed about this?”

“Brothers, no one needs to search for water with a forked stick, and I don’t need to pray about it. God put the water down there. I have prayed that we would have the labor to reach it.”

They continued to work. My mama and some ladies showed up with sweet tea, biscuits and fried chicken for the men. The work continued and the men ate in shifts. Everyone started to get excited, by the end of the day they were throwing dirt out of the hole and it was about 6’ deep.

Over the next three weeks a windlass was built to pull the workers and dirt out of the hole. When they hit rock the preacher took a star-hand-drill and hammer with a stick of dynamite down in the hole. He drilled about a foot into the rock two places. Set the charges and lit the fuses and called for the men to haul him out.Once out, the men rolled the preacher’s old trailer over the hole.
 I thought it would be louder but we heard a WHUMP! The ground shook and the trailer raised about a foot then settled. After about an hour the hole cleared and a man went down to inspect.His voice echoed up the 30 foot hole, “We got water! He yelled.”

Every one of us jumped and yelled. It had been a lot of work, but the preacher said it, there was water down there.
That was my daddy, 1947, Burlington, NC

Nite Shipslog

PS:  Little known facts about the USA, from Cousin Tony: The smallest county in the U.S., Kalawao County on the Hawaiian island of Moloka'i, is also a leprosy colony where a few former patients still live.

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This picture was taken in 1943 Dad was still driving this car (1941 Chevy)in 1947 when they dug the well.