Visiting at Mt. Tabor

Until today Sheila and I have been licking our wounds since a few weeks before our church of over fifty years (over sixty for me) officially disbanded and have not gotten out of the house on Sunday mornings, except for one Sunday at Cave Spring United Methodist Church. But we rousted ourselves this morning and drove up through Texas Valley to Everett Springs to visit Mt. Tabor United Methodist Church. 

Our friend Dale McConkey is the pastor there. We should have realized that Dale would be absent, since he just lost his mother-in-law. But if we couldn't hear Dale, what better sub could we have than Wayne Hopper, another friend and once the associate pastor at Trinity. He preached a good advent sermon on John the baptizer and being a messenger in our time. 

It was good to see a crowd there and many folks that we have ties of one kind or another with. Several were relatives of kids I've taught. And one couple not only are parents of one of my students but also friends from the seventies of my late sister Beth. 

Afterwards we were invited to stay for their advent covered dish dinner! It took a LOT of arm-twisting of course, but we finally gave in. <Wink!>  It was a typical absolutely scrumptious pot luck meal with fried chicken and veggies and casseroles and lots of desserts.

For a country church Mt. Tabor has a wonderful church plant with a nice dining room and kitchen and an attached gym/activiteies room.

We got just a few pictures:

Faith and Carl Melear are parents of Connor whom I taught about 15 years ago. BUT my siblings will be interested to know that Carl's Daddy was the owner of the famous Melear's Barbecue near Fairburn where my Dad loved to eat. Faith and Carl both knew my sister Beth and her first husband Randy Hearn. Carl actually attended their wedding.

We love (Rev.) Wayne Hopper. He served as pastor at Mt. Tabor for a long time. He lives practically next door in Everett Springs terms. He is a friend of many in my family including my late Mom and my sister Joan and her husband Jim (another retired pastor).

It was good to visit with Ray Barton. Ray has been my Facebook friend for a long time. He is the nephew of our late dear friend Wint Barton and cousin to our current neighbor George Barton. We enjoyed retelling Wint stories.

We missed taking pictures with a relative of the late Cleo Marion -- a dear friend of my parents in the sixties. Then there were Dunagans and Sharpes and other Bartons and our friend Harriett who has remarried and whose last name escapes me right now.

We missed seeing Dale, but we sure did have a good time worshipping and visiting at Mt. Tabor. About the only other thing that would have made it better would have been if Mt. Tabor's most famous daughter had been home to sing a song or two -- world famous mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton.

Our Last Sunday at Trinity

Starbucks, May 22, 2018 - Rev. Nanci Hicks, Sheila and Terrell Shaw

May 22, 2018, at Starbucks on Turner McCall at Riverside Parkway, Sheila and I met with our soon-to-be new pastor, Nanci Hicks, who had just been assigned to our congregation, Trinity United Methodist Church. I had already checked out her preaching by listening to a couple of her sermons from the website of her last appointment; I knew Nanci could preach. In the five and a half years since she has certainly been a blessing through her eloquent, Biblically-grounded, challenging, sermons. She has also been a blessing in many other ways to me and mine during the most trying times in the history of our congregation. 

Barring unforeseen occurrences, today was the last time she will preach at Trinity before it dissolves on November 30 of this year. She preached another powerful sermon. We also said goodbye to Debra Malone our talented organist/pianist and, for the last few months, choir director. We enjoyed the powerful thought-provoking music of Nanci's son Atticus who came to support his Mom today. We shared communion.  

I snuck a picture as Rev. Hicks pronounced our benediction today. That beautiful hand-carved God Is Love pulpit dates at least to before 1939 and likely to the 1800s. It includes the logo and motto of the old Epworth League of the Methodist Episcopal Church South: "All For Christ" . The Omega banner is appropriate I suppose for a day of completion.

And after the service many of us celebrated her ministry with a shared meal and fellowship. There were tears, of course, but there were also laughs and hugs.

None of us know for sure where Nanci's ministry will take her next, but she will be a blessing wherever that is. I hope it'll be somewhere close by.

Today, October 22, 2023

Barring those unlikely occurrences mentioned above, this was also our last Sunday to attend Trinity. My membership will remain until November when it, and that of each of the other 800 or so current members of Trinity United Methodist Church, evaporates. All of us will have decisions to make. I am a United Methodist so I will find a UMC congregation. We have had folks at Cave Spring UMC, Second Avenue UMC, Mt. Tabor UMC, and First UMC invite us to visit their churches. I know we'd be welcome at any of them. And I know we will find a church home. But it is a very sad day for me. I first joined Trinity in 1962. Sheila and I began singing in the choir there in 1982. I had expected to stand, as I have done so many times since 1962, in that Nativity Scene almost every Christmas Eve till my knees give completely out. I had expected my funeral to be held at Trinity UMC.

Many much-loved and influential people in my life have been Trinity folks like Burnita Burton, Jim Smith, Annie Beth Terrell, Chastine Parker, Hugh & Jeanne Holt, Bobby Storey, Brady (Buster) Drummond, Mike Burton, Lynn Popham, Sam Evans, Wint Barton, Grant Magness, Rachel Jones, Kam Malone, and pastors like James Sanders, Scobie Branson, Paul Hanna, George Freeman, David Campbell (I could go on!) and, of course, Nanci Hicks. That's not even counting my family members.  Virtually every day of my life I will pass our former church campus as I leave or return to Avenue A. There will some pain every time I see that beautiful building but that will diminish with time, like other deaths in the family. 

But (again barring something unexpected) we will find a new church home and life will go on.

I cannot pretend not to have some anger about how all this came about -- about 15% of the membership actually cast votes to disband. The General Conference should not have allowed that to be possible. But I must admit a majority voted, whether they meant to or not, by staying home from the vote. I am trying to deal with my anger in love. I truly do love many of the very folks who made this terrible decision, I believe, out of their fear and prejudice.

Mary and Martha... and Burnita and more

I believe many of my Methodist mentors, now gone, would be heart broken to see our congregation considering disbanding Trinity United Methodist Church. The idea certainly breaks my heart and I pray that enough of those of us who want to continue to be United Methodist will show up this Sunday to avoid that tragedy. 

Here are more a dozen who influenced my life through this congregation of the United Methodist Church. If I had more time I could write about the influence of each on my life and then add another dozen pretty quickly.

My parents of course

Wint and Frances Barton

Burnita Burton

Madelyn Collette

Leonard and Frances Hancock

Hugh Holt

Rev. Warren Jones

Martha King

Chastain Parker

Harold Parker

Mary Stewart

Bobby and Dot Storey

Miss Annie Beth Terrell

I will not pretend to know how these folks would vote were they able tomorrow. But I do know that most of them had loved ones who lived (or live) alternate lifestyles. 

These were all United Methodists. They lived through some very divisive times, but they stuck with the United Methodist Church to the end.

As to the living: as I look around the congregation at my Trinity friends I see that most of them also have loved ones who live alternate lifestyles. 

My heart aches for the friends who have left Trinity for other churches over the last decade or so. I truly miss them and wish they had stayed. But they made that choice. They have free will. Our congregation did not vote to exclude them. If the vote is passed to disband Trinity United Methodist Church on Sunday, those of us who remain United Methodists will have no choice. Our local church will no longer exist. Our membership will be in some sort of limbo. We will be forced to either have no local church or choose a different one. That is simple fact.

Old Leaves: Kidney Stones

Several times over the years I have hosted Mr. Kidney Stone. Just a few nights ago I spent a portion of the pre-dawn hours trying not to wake Sheila with my moans -- and dreading having to spend the day at Harbin Clinic or the emergency room again so soon after my Half-Inch Drill incident. But about daybreak, shortly after I fessed up to my condition to Sheila, the pain disappeared. I think -- I hope -- I pray -- it passed and is gone. (I hope writing this hasn't jinked me!) Anyway, thinking about that made me think it might be time to dust off this post from 2007...

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Sunday Seven: I promise you - A Small Kidney Stone is Someone Else's Kidney Stone.

I have been experiencing the joys of hosting a Kidney Stone for the last several weeks. I didn't know the name of my guest till he kidney-punched me a week ago Saturday. He got in another hard punch last Sunday then just peppered me with light stuff for a few days. Thursday he hid out and until about four yesterday I decided he had left the house. But up he popped and gave me the hardest jolt yet. I walked bent for several hours, popping pain pills. I'd write a line or two of my post about Gary (below) then walk from one end of the house to another bent at the waist and listing several degrees to port (to continue my love of scrambled metaphor). Finally we jumped in the car and visited Immediate Care where a sweet little nurse stung my rear with a hefty dose of some modern magic. Twenty minutes later the pain was gone. It is still gone, but the stone remains and makes himself known in less dramatic ways.

Maybe you are wondering how I'm gonna get a Sunday Seven out of this. Well, folks, I am one thankful guy and at least seven times blessed this cool October morning!

1. I am thankful for Sheila. I can't imagine how lonesome it would be and what additional pain it would make to undergo debilitating pain without a life partner standing by. Sheila took time she couldn't really afford to represent both of us at Gary's funeral on Thursday. She has kept me supplied with delicious chicken/potato soup and corn muffins. She drives her moaning husband back and forth to hospital/doctor/immediate care. She walks the floors with me. She strokes my brow and seems to genuinely love someone who cannot possibly be very attractive right now.

2. I am thankful that I live in 2007. Can you imagine enduring kidney stone pain with no access to medical care. No pain reliever. No idea of an ending other than death. I can imagine a primitive person begging for death after a few hours!

3. I am thankful for the internet. Despite all the junk out there, a person can pretty quickly get a basic education on most any topic, including kidney stones.

4. I am thankful for the love and concern of my two daughters, my mother, and other family members who have called to check on me and cheer me from afar.

5. I am thankful for that magic shot in the tush. I forgot to ask the magician which spell he used with that slender wand.

6. I am thankful for the prayers, calls, and well wishes from so many church, school, family, and internet friends. I'll note one special friend, Mr. Wint Barton, who took the time for an encouraging call.

7. I suspect you all, wherever you are, will hear my deafening thank yous and hallelujahs when I finally get to see my unwelcome 4mm guest!

These are real pictures of relatives of my guest. They are not always so spiky, but ouch! No wonder that thing is hard to get outta there. It may be dug in.
(from another blog.)

Gleaning Facebook: Wint's Baskets

 Great estate sale find, two signed Wint Barton baskets and a third that the owner says is also by Wint. We have a couple of his baskets but Wint & Frances were so soecial to our family I could not pass them by. The one on the left is in great shape and inscribed specifically to Rome’s legendary “Home Demonstration Agent” Margaret Gaylor, who died this year.

George Barton: The two bow bottoms are definitely his

Terrell Shaw: George Barton Those two are both signed. The flat bottom one looks like his work too and Branson thinks it is.

George Barton: The flat bottom looks a bit pristine for dads baskets. His all looked a little rough and utilitarian. I would guess his brother Ted made it

Ray Barton: I was thinking Uncle Ted might have made it. He knew Mrs. Gaylor well too

Angela Greear: Y'all find the coolest stuff

Toni Rhinehart: We have also bought some of his baskets at local estate sales- a great day and great find for sure!!

Howard Smith: was Margaret Branson, Branson Gaylor's wife?

Terrell Shaw: Howard Smith yes. Branson was there for the estate sale. He lives at Brookdale now. Margaret died last July at 91.

Howard Smith: Terrell Shaw wow.. I had so many good times with him at UGA and on trips when he was the Rome City Clerk.

Anita Stewart: Jason treasures the one Wint gave him when he mentored Jason for Confirmation.

Terrell Shaw: Here's an old blog post about Wint Barton.

George Barton: this is a flat bottom basket that Wint Barton did weave.

Duanne Walton: Have known of the late Mr. Barton for many years and seen him make his baskets. I really enjoyed reading the blog.

Quinn Scott Smith: I'm so sorry to hear about Margret. I met them back in 200-2002ish at Chapel Hill. My son was age 10 and went through confirmation when we attended there. I would've loved to have known about their estate sale and to say Hi to Branson. I'm sure he doesn't remember me but he and Margret really were SUCH a blessing to me. I'll try to go see him at Brookdale. I have a friend who is a supervisor there too.

Gleaning Facebook: Mr. Barton's Basket

Doing some organizing at Mother’s house and uncovered some treasures. Heres one — a Wint Barton basket! Ruth Baird Shaw wrote her name on the bottom so it’d find its way home after covered dish dinners.

Comments from Facebook:

George Barton: He made a lot of these. They sold well and were quickly made with less weaving than the bow bottoms

Melanie Collette Babb: Mother had a couple of his baskets.

Anita Stewart: We have a few of Mr. Barton's baskets, but the most valuable thing we have regarding him is the rocking chair that my mother was rocked in 100 years ago....Mr. Barton taught Jason how to cane the old chair when Jason was a Confirmand. The chair is a family treasure and added to this is the memory that Jason will always have of Mr. Barton helping restore it,

A Free Hour

I have never been busier than during the five years since I retired in 2013.

Today was a typical hectic day. I showed off gray and green treefrogs to kindergarteners in four classes at Pepperell Primary School and got to tell them Pete Seeger's story "The Foolish Frog".  I've been telling that story for over fifty years. I finished up there at 1:30 and had exactly an hour to get to Naomi Elementary School in Walker County to lead a YoungTales Storytelling session there. So, with the pedal to the metal I took off on this beautiful daffodil-spangled February day through Lindale, Rome, Mt. Berry, Armuchee, Gore, Subligna and arrived at Naomi exactly on time.

Wow. No buses lined up out front. The usual bumper to bumper queue of parent cars is missing. There are a few cars though. I make my way to the upstairs room where we meet. No one there. A teacher is working in the room next door. She is the one who let's me know; Walker County Schools are on their winter break.

Some might be angry or frustrated or pouty in that situation. Actually I would not be surprised to learn that I was told about this and somehow managed not to get it on the calendar. I do hate to miss a session with that great group of kids, as they prepare to compete in the Debby Brown Storytelling Competition.

But on a day like today? I had just been given a free hour.

I drove toward Villanow, stopping to read the historical markers then taking the gorgeous Pocket Road toward Everett Springs.

I thought about stopping at the spot where the Pinhoti Trail crosses that road and maybe hiking a ways along that, but instead pulled onto the gravel National Forest Road to Keown Falls. on the east side of John's Mountain. There were two other vehilcles in the parking lot when I reached it.

I'd only climbed a little ways along the trail when I decided to check my fitbit --- already 11 flights of stairs.

I heard the little stream before I saw the evening sun skipping across the water as it bounced around the stones cascading down the side of John's Mountain.

The path makes an exaggerated zigzag up the long ridge. There are no blooms of any kind except a lonely bluet I found near the top. But the leafless trees allow for more expansive views as you climb the ridge.... 

... and a clearer appreciation for the "lay of the land," ....

....long wrinkles in the earth's surface called the Armuchee Ridges..... 

.... pushed up between the Blue Ridge and the Appalachian Plateau.

Near the top I suddenly came upon four nice young fellows out for an afternoon hike and the picturesque little Keown Falls tumbling over a roch shelf. Steep steps carved into the rock face lead to the top.

Resurrection Fern (Pleopeltis polypodioides) finds a foothold in crevices of the rock steps. 

From a wooden overlook platform you can witness a great view of the valley....

.... and this overhead view of the falls.

Here near the top of the falls several trails cross, including the long Pinhoti Trail which begins in Alabama near Cheaha Mountain and crosses the Northwest corner of Georgia to join the Benton McKay Trail in the Cohuttas, which in turn leads to the Appalachian Trail at Springer Mountain near Amicalola Falls and, of course, from there you can walk to Maine, if you have the time.

The quiet scene above is the little stream calmly trickling along the ridge with no idea that just beyond the fence it will tumble over the brow of a deep recess in the mountain's face.

Standing against the back wall of the cool recess you can view the Pocket of Horn Mountain though the small free fall shower of Keown Falls.

Crossing under the falls the path follows the base of the seeping rock face, marred occasionally with graffiti...

...and another falls, perhaps just a wet weather one.

Just before juice ran out on my iPhone I snapped this bit of color, lichens and mosses along the trail....

I wish I could have captured the beauty of the mass of these organisms ...

....making a lustrous green border for this section of the trail.

The walk down the mountain is harder on the feet and ankles. As I finally see my vehicle again I meet a young couple just beginning their ascent with a beautiful spotted dog that must have been part Dalmation.

From there to Arrowhead was another ten miles of memories past the Pocket Recreation Area, the DNR check-in station (and thoughts of the big rallies we had there to battle the Reagan administration and preserve our National Forests) along John's Creek, through beautiful farmland, past Camp Misty Mountain, Camp Sidney Dew, Camp Gazelle Dew, Wint Barton's old homeplace, Everett Springs, and Floyd Springs.

I was sorry to miss my storytelling session, but what a glorious afternoon I had.

Gleaning Facebook: Christmas 2010

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I'm dreaming of a Whitish Christmas...

Ruth Baird Shaw

Terry...there is enough snow out here in West Rome to build a snowman????

Chris Rouse Davidson
We built a snowman here in West Rome. He's a little brownish, but we're happy to have him nonetheless.

Amy Leanne Cochran
we got quiet a bit of snow here in Lyerly 

1st time Ive ever had a White Christmas and I spent it playing in the snow with my favorite children 

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas 

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Our family, virtually together for Christmas Eve 2010 -- via Skype

Lillian Shaw
Haha. I managed to look the cutest in this photo.

Christie Hufstedler Boyd
Merry Christmas to the Shaws in Rome and Virtually to Lillian in New York! 

Gary Harrell
that is awesome!

Joan Shaw Turrentine
We will miss you, Sweet Lil! Sure looking forward to seeing you, Brannon! You four still look "right" together!

Nora Matthews
how come Lillian couldn't make it but Brannon could? anyways have a Merry Christmas love you all

Terrell Shaw
Obviously Brannon loves us more. We've changed the will.
<Grin> Merry Christmas Nora!!!
(Actually, Brannon could get off work, and Lillian couldn't -- they will share their inheritance of our debts equally.)

Nora Matthews
lol Merry Christmas to you too uncle Terry! Tell everyone we love them and Merry Christmas as well.

Ruthie Langston Terry
Isn't technology wonderful? Hope you are all actually happy, rather than virtually so this Christmas.

Ruth Baird Shaw
Ruthie...Terry sounded actually happy when i talked to him a few minutes ago! Lillian may be only virtually happy, having to work (new job) on Christmas day.

Terrell Shaw
Happier than any man has a right to be, Ms Ruthie! Same to you and yours!
And Nora, you are very much loved by this household (virtual and actual!) Give the retired coot and his sweet wife a hug for us and even ol' Derrick!

Ruth Baird Shaw
Terry and Sheila...Great picture!!!!! Who snapped the pic...

Terrell Shaw
I just held the camera out and snapped it myself. I wish Lil were available during the day so we could bring the computer over and "Skype" from your house.

Ruth Baird Shaw
Merry Christmas Nora!
Merry Christmas David Matheny and your family. I know it is sad with you recent loss but happy for your wonderful Dad. Dr. Matheny fought the good fight and now has his crown...

Terrell Shaw
Yes, Merry Christmas, David! I know this is a Christmas when your folks are much on your mind. One of my friends described it as a bittersweet Christmas as we remember our missing mutual friend, Cleve Burton - great memories but a real empty spot too.

Ruth Baird Shaw
Yes. I think about Cleve so often.

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Having a low-key, but great Christmas.

Still, as I stood, a "shepherd" last night in our Nativity Scene, quietly considering Christmas, my mind wandered to warm memories, not so directly associated with this tender scene as with my own bittersweet emotions. I thought especially of all those missing from us this year.

Terrell Shaw We have enjoyed visiting Wint Barton each of the last several Christmases. He regaled us with stories and showered us in chocolate and other goodies supplied by Suzanne. And Cleve is gone. And Charles Reichel. I thought of David Metheney's dad. And then of course the mind skips to all the others... My Daddy. How he loved family and how he love this church. The Cravens, Paul and Mary, who built the first stable at Trinity and befriended my family in the sixties. Miss Annie Beth Terrell just up Avenue A and her oat/chocolate goodies and generosity to the youth of our church. Jim Formby, such an bulwark of our church for so many years, and another friend of my Dad. Bobby Storey heating bricks in the church oven for us to stand on those really cold Christmases. Christmas has always been such a family time. The boistrous Shaw boys. The delicious smells and tastes. The downlight gloriously gaudy decorations my Mama Shaw put up. The warmth of my Mama Baird and Aunt Mary. The girdle (a story in itself.) Then to hunting the perfect, wonderfully fragrant, redcedar for our Christmas tree with my Daddy and sisters and later with Sheila, and then year after year on the Burton farm with my daughters and the Burtons. Enough... Happy Christmas to all my family and all wonderful friends, and former students, and Facebook cohorts!!

George Dean Charles Riechel was a great man indeed, and I am richer from his and your way of living. Merry Christmas!
Jann Heaton Skeen Merry Christmas to the Shaw family!
Jane Cox Slickman Merry Christmas Terrell - the glory of it all is that those we miss in body will never leave us in memory or spirit - how rich that makes us!

Nancy Nichols Elder And, Terrell, don't forget our Paula!
Terrell Shaw Yes, Paula! She is another that loved Christmastime. She always brought treats to the school at Christmas for Allie and Mallory's teachers and staff members.
Ruthie Langston Terry Terrell, I think that's what puts the "blue" in Christmas. I missed my Mother, and Daddy and sister so much, even tho I have six little grands to occupy my mind, I still think of those Christmas' past!

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Later Snow Pictures

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Just finished our annual viewing of the classic "It's a Wonderful Life". It's a wonderful movie. Capra did some great directing - great camera angles for example. Of course the schmaltz gets a little ridiculous, especially in the "Mary the Old Maid Librarian" scene. "You're not gonna like it George... she's an old maid.... she's just about to close up the LIBRARY!!!!!"

Tony Pope
Always dissing the librarians!

Terrell Shaw
I wondered if Tony Pope might see this. Now let's wait for Avis's take on it.

Tony Pope
Ha.... I think I might have broken that image somewhat! Ha...

Terrell Shaw
So big change: crabby old batchelor librarian. <grin>

Ruthie Langston Terry
Lighten up on the librarian's Terrell. I know a few who are definitely "HOT" !!! lol
Uh, Tony, don't get any crazy ideas! LOL

Terrell Shaw
Now, Ruthie, I've waxed eloquent about my love of you librarians in the past... I was giving Capra a hard time about his portrayal of Mary as a librarian in IAWL!

Ruthie Langston Terry
Weeeell, it is Christmas, guess I'll let you live Terrell, since you post such interesting data! all is forgiven.....