October 2013 part 2

It's hard to believe that you can live near a place most of your life, go there every day for 4 years, live within 5 blocks of it but still , you've never taken the tour.  This was true for me and my much beloved Old Salem.  I grew up in Winston-Salem and as a child my daddy would drive through Old Salem on our way to visit family when there weren't interstates and freeways.  What I remember most about Old Salem at that time was that instead of stop signs, there were these rubber signs fastened to the road that so that they would stand up about 12 to 18 inches.  They had the word "STOP" painted on them with white letters. The rubber would flex as the car drove over them.  There was also this really beautiful building there that said "Salem College" across the top and I just felt this real connection with it...but I digress.

Well, last Saturday was finally the day... I had no excuses. Being a double Scots Irish, I'm known as Kathy "Frugal" Blanchard, and even though as a Salem student, I could have taken the tour at half price, I was still too parsimonious (that sounds much better than "cheap" doesn't it) to go.  But last Saturday the Smithsonian was behind a program encouraging various museums across the United States to allow free admission for one person and their guest.  How on earth could I turn that down?

We ate an early lunch and picked up our tickets at the Welcome Center and made an appointment for a guided tour of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Art (MESDA).  We started our self guided tour with the Timothy Vogler Gunsmith Shop (1831) and were learned there that the average income for a Salem resident was equal to about $25 a month.   The next stop was the 1784 Salem Tavern (George Washington slept here), then went to the tavern barn.  Next was the Blum house and print shop.  This particular print shop printed the Blum's Almanac, the same one that Daddy always insisted that we use.  The front of the almanac is almost an exact replica of the one printed there from 1815 - 1854.  Within the print shop was a collection of embroidery from young ladies who attended Salem Academy during the early years.  The work was just lovely and so delicate!

Next on the list was the Single Brother's House (1769).  We learned that wthin the Moravian Church, everyone was divided up into "choirs" - not to be confused with singing choirs (although they did sing, in fact music was and is very important to them), but small living and study groups called choirs.  The choirs were set up according to age, gender and marital status. During the week they lived, worked and studied with their choir and on Sunday they all worshiped together. If you visit a Moravian cemetery you'll find it arranged in blocks/choirs.  Husbands and wives are not buried side by side but with their gender and marital status.  

The Single Sister's house sat across the square from the Single Brothers house.  It has been refurbished and is partially used by the college.  

Next stop was the Miksch Gardens and House (1771).  It was a 2 room house - one room was the kitchen and the other room was the everything else room.  The guide in there was sewing.  She said that they have various chores that they do each day and at different times of the day (cooking, washing, sewing, etc,) just like the folks living in the 1700s.  

Since we have shopped in Old Salem, there was no need to go to the stores and bakery so we went along to the Doctor's residence.  It contained the family living space as well as the apothecary.  We were lucky that the Home Moravian Church was still open with a man giving a talk about the church and how it had changed over the years.  The church is really beautiful with its curved pews and balcony.  

Our time was nearing for our MESDA tour.  It was hard to believe that we had already spent hours looking around.  On our way back to the museum we stopped in at the log church and St. Phillips Moravian Church, built by the Moravians for the African American congregation who until the mid 19th century had  worshipped alongside the Moravians.     

We finished up with our tour of MESDA.  This was only a partial tour, about 10 rooms but it was fabulous.  Frank L. Horton, who the museum is named in honor of, and his mother enjoyed collecting early Southern furniture and actually collected entire rooms from homes that were about to be demolished.  These rooms have been reassembled or recreated within the museum using the paints and original furnishings (when available).  It is a gorgeous treat and I do plan to bite the bullet one day soon and take the rest of the tour.

There is always something going on in Old Salem.  During the summer they have the Cobblestone Market, which is a farmer's market of certified organic goods, Ghost Tours, Christmas Events including the Candle Tea and Love Feast and they are known far and wide for their Easter Sunrise Service.  If you'd like to find out more about these wonderful sites and maybe arrange to take the tours yourself, you'll find the link below.  

http://www.oldsalem.org/

http://www.salem.edu/

http://www.mesda.org/

A Little Break

Jhett and I went to Winston-Salem for a few days late last week.  I dropped her off at home in West Salem where she could enjoy her city house while I spent a few days with Daddy.  Daddy has some sitters helping us now.  He is unable to get out of bed at all.  He needs help eating (he has such tremors that he can only handle sandwiches or finger foods) and he spends much of his time sleeping.  Always a vain man, he still insists on shaving and combing his hair every day.  

Jhett enjoyed spending time lying on the radiators at each window, sleeping on top of the cabinet in the kitchen and reacquainting herself with her old toys.  She has spent each evening in my lap while I would listen to NPR or read "Plainsong" while waiting for my Preacher to get here.



Once he arrived we did yard work that had been neglected for about a year.  There was a Bradford pear tree in the front yard and a breeze early this spring knocked it over.  That left only one tree-sized plant in the yard - a large crepe  myrtle.  The neighbor's trees were growing over the property line and fences, lying on the roof of the house and garage (this is a city house so the side yards are minuscule).  We spent two days cutting and hauling brush.  I can't remember when I have glowed so much (you know Southern women don't sweat, we glow).  I am covered with mosquito bites and am in great fear of the dreaded West Nile Virus so I'm hyper sensitive to each ache and pain since we got home.  I have more bites than I care to count but they seem to be in clusters of at least 3 within in inch.  I have bites on my toes and on  my face.  Thank God, the worst of the itching seems to be over.  It's hard to believe that as dry as things have been back in Winston-Salem, there are more mosquitoes there than here in the Dismal Swamp area.

So now I'm back and getting caught up on work and rest and the next thing you know it's going to be September!                                                                               

An Explanation (Part 1)

You may notice from time to time that my posts are sporadic.  There are reasons for this.  Sometimes I just don't know what to say or lack inspiration.  At other times I'm away.  My daddy lives about 5 hours away and I go to visit him each month.  At almost 89, his health is very fragile.  My sister has moved in with him and takes care of his daily needs.  I come each month to give her a break and take care of cleaning, laundry, banking, and various other little chores.

My mother died 11 years ago and daddy has had a difficult time being alone since she has been gone.  This post might wind up being pretty long but I'm doing it as much for therapy as anything else, so please bear with my long-windedness.

My daddy is not an educated man.  He had to drop out of school in the 5th grade when his only brother got married and moved away and he was needed on the farm to help out.  His mother had died when he was 5 and there were 5 sisters at home.  His sisters doted on him and vied for his attention.  Their devotion must be what gave him so much self confidence and pride.

Since he left school so young, he was not able to read beyond the 5th grade level, in fact, it seemed at times that his ability wasn't quite at that level.  He seemed very uncomfortable and guarded in many public settings and I think this was because of his inability to read.  He was very dependent on mama to be his "eyes". Once he had been to a new place with someone who seemed to know the ropes, he was okay but it took a lot of coaxing to get him to try new things.  He preferred going to a cafeteria to eat because he had a hard time navigating the menu.  His interactions with people were pretty much limited to work, family and church and even in those areas he didn't forge close ties with anyone who didn't know of his inability to read well. As a result of this, his world was and is world very small.

Daddy was mechanically inclined and worked on an assembly line at a local plant.  He became a second shift lead man, a job that he was so proud of having and he should have been proud.  It was quite an accomplishment for him.  He enjoyed taking things apart, cleaning and refurbishing them and putting them back together so when a job opening in the "tool crib" came open, he was put in there where he took care of tools and assigned them to people.  He retired from that job after about 32 years with the company.

He was able to enjoy his retirement, working in his woodworking shop and repairing lawn mowers.  Then mama got sick and that exhausted everyone.  We all suffered with mama's slow death.  That in itself is another story but when God finally took her, daddy was left alone and while he could easily cook, clean house and take care of himself he was still alone and no longer had his "eyes" to look out for him.