SoCS – The Valley

Yesterday Linda posted our weekly prompt for the  Stream of Consciousness Challenge:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “val.” Find a word that starts with “val” or if you’re not doing the A to Z Challenge, find a word that just has “val” in it, and use that word any way you’d like. Enjoy!

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I grew up in a valley nestled in the Appalachian mountains. I say I grew up there, well, that’s half true. We moved away a couple of times, but I kept going home for years. What I can tell you is that it was this place that helped form who I would become in this life. This is where I learned about values and community and living and loving a very simple life. Always referred to as The Valley by everyone who ever grew up or lived there, this is where my great-grandmother, my paternal grandparents, my parents and my two sisters are buried in a cemetery on a hilltop overlooking this little valley.

A big part of my life there was going to church. We had Sunday School and preachin’ at the church every Sunday except Easter Sunday when we met on a hilltop for Sunrise Service. All the kids walked home from church it seemed, especially from spring on through the summer and fall. Most all of us were baptized in the creek – water that was always cold no matter what time of year it was.

I still have favorite hymns from my years going to church there. One of my favorites was always “The Church in the Wildwood” otherwise known as “The Little Brown Church in the Vale”. Here is the song by Dolly Parton:

And since I seem to be on an Andy Griffith kick of late, here’s a scene where Andy and Barney sit on the porch and sing the song. These porch get togethers and singin’s were common place where I grew up. We did a big part of our living on the porch.

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