"When we are children we seldom think of the future . . .

                     This innocence leaves us free to enjoy ourselves as few adults can.  The day we fret about the future is the day we leave our childhood behind.      
                                                                                                 --Patrick Rothfuss 

     "When we lived in Hickory and Statesville we didn't stay home much on weekends.  We loved to drive up into the Blue Ridge Mountains on the Parkway; on one such drive we saw what we thought were tortoises and so decided to take one home as a pet.  Well, the darn thing started spitting every time we picked it up.   Someone at Frank's work told him it was a spitting turtle, was protected, and shouldn't have been removed from its habitat."
                                                                                     --Joan Shelton 

Bit of information:  The Blue Ridge Mountains are noted for their bluish color when seen from a distance.
Trees put the 'blue' in Blue Ridge, from the isoprene released into the atmosphere, thereby contributing to the characteristic haze on the mountains and their distinctive color.

Bit of information:  The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road, noted for its scenic beauty.  It runs for 469 miles through twenty-nine Virginia and North Carolina counties, mostly along the Blue Ridge, a major mountain chain that is part of the Appalachian Mountains.  The Blue Ridge Parkway was built to connect Shenandoah National Park to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. 

Joan, Barbara (6) and Maureen (11) at Mabry Mill, July 1961

      Mabry Mill is a watermill located on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. According to the date (July 1961) on this photo, Mam was pregnant with Darryl.






    







Maureen, who was 10 years old when we came back to the States in 1960, has many wonderful memories of her childhood in North Carolina:

     "When we came back to the States in 1960, Mam and Dad bought Barbara and me brand new bikes.  I was old enough to ride my bike to Viewmont School in Hickory.  I remember the school had a little store and besides school supplies that I bought for myself, I would buy a small square box of pretzel sticks to take home to Barbara.

     I was also allowed to ride my bike to some shops near Viewmont Apartments in Hickory.  I would buy little wax bottles in a tiny cardboard box; each bottle was filled with a different colored liquid. You bit the top off and drank the liquid.  

     I was over at a friend's house one day, riding bikes down a steep hill with a curve at the bottom.  I flew off the bike on the curve and landed in the gravel at the edge of the road.  I think there was broken glass in the gravel; my ear was nearly cut off.
     Dad came and got me and took me to the emergency room where I needed 13 stitches to sew the ear back in place.  I begged him not to leave me at the hospital.  My greatest fear was having to be away from Mam and Dad.  Once I went to a Girl Scout day camp where all the campers were invited to spend one night at the camp.  I had an excuse ready for why I couldn't stay.

     After coming back from England, Dad bought another car, a big red-and-white station wagon.  It was in that car and in Hickory that Mam learned to drive, which really was a necessity in the United States since, unlike in England, distances were greater.  She couldn't parallel park that big station wagon so failed her first test in Hickory;  Aunty  Gladys took her to a small nearby town, Granite Falls, to retake the test, which she passed the second time.

Mauree sitting on the tail gate of "the bus"

     Friday nights in Hickory always meant a trip downtown to spend my small weekly allowance.  Murphy's Dime Store was the place to go.  Mam says it took me forever to decide what to buy, but I always came away with something.  
     When I was at Viewmont Elementary School, my class took a train trip from Hickory to Ashville.  We went to a craft fair, and having spending money, I came home with several items.  I remember Dad taking me aside afterward and asking if I bought anything for Mam.  I said I hadn's (selfish little thing I was, it hadn't occurred to me), and he made me promise to always bring Mam something back when I went on a trip.  I have tried to follow his good advice ever since."