Memories of the Old Homeplace: July 2013

Remember the Old Home Place Forever

As southerners we want to hold onto to everything. And, sometimes we don't have the resources and time moves on. Only the memories remain and the stories we pass down to our children about our elders and our childhoods.

What memories are more special than those of the old home place. It may be the house you grew up in, or maybe your Grandmother's house or the farm where you spent every summer. It could be that old lake house or river house or beach house. No one but you and your family can appreciate what that porch swing brings to mind, or that old truck in the barn, or the fence going down the drive.

Here is a way to preserve those memories forever.

Several years ago I took my 75 year old mother to a family reunion that was held at her old family home place. We were lucky in that some cousins had lovingly cared for the place and as I sat in the yard eating fried chicken and potato salad, it was just like being there 40 years ago.

I went back and photographed the place and presented my mother with a book of the pictures. She went through the book, page by page, reminiscing over times she had spent there visiting her grandparents, playing with her cousins, and enjoying holidays with her family. Since then my mother has passed away. But, I captured the magic of the home place forever. Who knows the place may burn down tomorrow.

Let me capture that magic for your family.

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The Brass Tacks (or How to Get it Done)

If you are interested in preserving a memory for generations to come I think you will be very surprised at how little it will cost to have your precious memories saved for generations to come by a professionally produced photographic book.

I like to work with every one on an individual basis because each project is a work in progress. Often we end up finding more than we thought was there. (Memories fade until we return home and are reunited - briefly- with the past.)

Just email me at homeplacememories@gmail.com I always enjoy hearing from folks and am happy to answer questions.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Old Gate

Here is a gate, now almost hidden underneath the oak trees with Spanish moss. The small old columns that now lean once proudly stood showing the entrance to a drive.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

School Buses

There is something sad about old school buses put out to pasture - as if they did something wrong.

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Smokey Mountain Railrod

The Great Smokey Mountain Railroad pulls out of Bryson City, North Carolina daily for a round trip run to the Nantahala Outdoor Centere and back through the Nantahala gorge and past hills and farmland.

The famous train wreck scene in the 1993 The Fugitive (starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones) was filmed in Dillsboro along the Railroad. The wreckage set can still be viewed on one of the eastbound Excursions departing from Bryson City. Also the scene in the 1996 film, My Fellow Americans (starring Jack Lemmon and James Garner) when they stumble on to a charter train full of UNC-Chapel Hill fans headed for the NCAA Final Four, was filmed along the railway. As well as train scenes in the 1999 film Forces of Nature (starring Ben Affleck and Sandra Bullock).

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Mast General Store

The American Flag flying high in the Original Mast General Store in Valle Crucis, North Carolina (Quality Goods, Fair Prices and Old Fashioned Friendly Service since 1883).

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

More Old Doors

A collection of old wooden doors, all closed - most for the last time.