It was a simpler time. It was a time that offered a connection that was more real – like the apple pies your mother used to make… somehow they were just ‘better’ than what we have today. I love the past and I love giving it the the respect it deserves. Sometimes, granted, we romanticize the past, but it’s hard not to when you see what ‘we had’ vs. what we cling to these days.
Elizabeth needed a break. I needed a break. She needed some time to forget and walk away from the current stresses.
The cool dark of the early morning was damp with a fall sparkle as we bundled into the car and headed north. We took the back roads out of Raleigh and headed up highway 87 to highway 58. This highway, named after the Confederate General Jeb Stuart, is literally one of the most scenic routes out of the city. It winds northwest, tracing the folds of the Southern Virginia Piedmont, taking you up into the Blue Ridge Mountains, and back in time. To say these are are some of my stomping grounds doesn’t come close. I think in time, we could retire up into the mountains to never be heard from again!
The rich heritage that comes out of the mountains of southern Virginia has played a large role in both of our lives. My 6 years in Winston Salem gave me the opportunity to make dozens of trips to the Blue Ridge, Fancy Gap, Hillsville, Mabry Mill, Rocky Top, Hanging Rock, etc. The Sauratown Mountains are close by, and of course south of all of this is Pilot Mountain.
But the heritage and people are what this is about. We got out at Lover’s Leap. My buckskin fringed jack fit right in… but the shorts and running shoes… ECKKKK. Not so much. Elizabeth was dressed right, being all bundled up. We enjoyed the overlook, met some kind folks who took our picture, then headed out. Our next stop was Cockran’s, on the Dan River. This used to have a dam that flooded the area enough to float the ‘Dan River Queen’ which made short runs through the lake. Today, she rests on the mud with the memories and echoes still reverberating through her bones; children and families enjoying the aged paddle wheel boat, back in the day.
Then off to the parkway for a few minutes of Mabry Mill, then down to Tuggles Gap. I first came across this area back in my Bible College days. Our choir was invited to sing at the local baptist church in town. When the morning’s announcements were over the deacon of this small country church stood up, straightened his beige waist coat, cleared his voice and declared with a twangy southern accent, “To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God;(great emphases on the ‘G’) and the “firnament” sheweth his handywork. (needle scratching on record) I remember thinking… ‘what the heck is firnament?’ “Firmament?” Maybe. But it left a warm place in my heart because, his whole being was pouring out the Psalm. This is the only church I’d been in that when I asked for a bathroom, they pointed out the back door to the outhouse(s)… his and hers!
So we crossed into Tuggles Gap and made our way to Floyd Virginia… a town that time left behind. The main attraction for us was the Floyd Country Store. The history of the store’s opening is as obscured as a thick, wet foggy mountain morning, but we think it opened around 1910 and has been operating ever since.
The Floyd Country Store has long been on my radar because they are supposed to have live mountain music, and they do their version of a local radio show that is posted as a podcast. Not knowing their schedule we drove into town, parked on the main street, and walked into this unobtrusive little store. Loads of ‘visitor merchandise’ was set out on shelves, and more candy than I have ever seen in one place in my life. It was ‘busy’ …something I really didn’t expect, but I saw a hand written sign with the words “Live Country Jam 1:30 pm” standing by the door! We looked at each other, due to the fact that both of us pretty much try to forget time and distance and just ‘go’ when we take these day trips, and realized that it was 12:30. Enough time to get lunch at the local Mexican place and head back in.
This we did…
We returned to find the back of the store had a very small stage surrounded by a circle of plastic chairs. Nothing fancy here. All this needs to do is just ‘work’. I sat down in my jogging shoes and running shorts, fringe jack and all, then Elizabeth sat down. We just waited.
Slowly, like a flock of geese landing on a pond after a long flight, musicians wandered in from the hills. Bass players, banjo, fiddlers, mandolin players, and more 6 string guitars then you could count packed in and took their seats.They didn’t take the stage… no they sat down right in front of us and filled out that small circle of chairs facing each other in front of the stage. They were clearly not from the city and you could quickly tell… “we weren’t from around thar” .
“Ya’ll just visiting?” asked one man as he looked over my outfit. He was wearing blue jeans, flannel shirt and hair that Elvis and any reasonable Baptist preacher would kill for. (I was thinking… ‘really, you picked up on that did ya’? Based on how I was dressed?)
But he was so kind and I answered, “Yes sir we are from Raleigh, NC.” To which you could see in his head, ‘What do those poor folks dress like down in the big city?’ But again, his eyes were kind and that meant so much.
We settled in as over a dozen mountain men and women filled the musician seats. Tuning, which seemed to me to start the energy of the whole thing, began and I heard people talking about flat foot dancing. ‘Oh good’ I thought to myself, we could see some dancing today.’
Little did I know what was about to happen.
Now, my little wild flower, Elizabeth isn’t known for being an extrovert. For that matter, you could stick her on a farm, give her the internet, her boys, and horses, and you might never hear from her again. But I have always said there is some sorta native american, hill folk ‘something’ in her bones and when it comes out well slap me silly… she just comes out and shines like the noonday sun!
The fiddle player started us off and before you knew it the whole group was tapping, clapping, and finding a rhythm that just worked. The more they played, the harder our feet stomped, when out of the blue, with a noise of a squeaking chair, my man Elvis the Baptist preacher jumped up, walked right into the MIDDLE of all of the musicians, with a grin fixed on his face, and started flat foot dancing.
I kinda freaked out. Whoa… this energized the crowd and the foot stomping, got louder. I looked at Elizabeth and she was mesmerized watching his hair NOT move, but his feet were flying like nothing we’d ever seen. ‘My Lord in Heaven’ I thought, did we just get taken back to the country version of the Lawrence Welk show? Wow! People were really getting into this, and I started to feel the ‘pull’ to join in. ‘Hell no’ (sorry mom) I said to myself. You can’t dance like politicians can’t tell the truth! Don’t move. But I looked at my girl and she was leaning forward, like a dragster sitting on the line ready for the green light. I thought ‘what is this? Then I remembered… she has a real bluegrass funny bone that comes out once from time to time, and clearly it was tuning up.
I said, “You wanna go out there?” Her non sorta answer told me the tunes of the pied piper were calling her…
Here is something you don’t know. We, Elizabeth and I, can’t dance. We can hold on to each other and kinda sway back and forth without killing each other, but that’s about it. So I was really interested in where this was going to go. The song ended, Elvis/preacher sat down and we all were clapping and patting him on the back.
“Ya should try it! Good fer ya,” and he winked.
I didn’t know what to take from that, and answered, “Thanks, but we will just watch.”
I smiled and turned back realizing my momma and daddy, and every preacher I had, told me not to give into temptation, but boy I was tempted. The fiddle player called out the next tune and off they went faster than a mountain wind. Now more than Elvis/preacher got up to dance. Another gentleman hit the floor and just started swaying back and forth. His shoulders were leading him from side to side. Now none of you can say you don’t do this, but I was watching him thinking… ‘I could do that. I can’t keep up with Elvis, but heck I can sway.’ To divert myself from being tempted I whispered in Elizabeth’s ear, “Go head hun… you can do this. Look, he is swaying back and forth like a big tree in the wind. No one cares. You can do this!”
She said, “The more you keep trying to talk me into this the more it pushes me away.”
Now here is where it gets weird. I was sorta joking but I realized she was serious and about to bop out of that chair. What to do? Then I saw an elderly lady say, no more than 400 years or so, bouncing up and down in the corner. I thought she was going to make it to the moon she was jumping up and down so hard. They called her out on the floor and I swear, true story… she started doing the ‘stair stepper’ move. I have seen exercise folks who couldn’t keep up with her. I mean the kilowatt power granda was throwing off could run the whole town for a month! I leaned over and said, “Okay, look, Grandma is doing exercises up there and we are all eating this up. You can do this.”
No comment.
I decided to do as she asked and stop talking. Then I saw there just wasn’t enough gas in this tank for her to do this and I didn’t want her to feel bad. So I got quiet and just clapped and left her alone. I knew what was coming and I was hating it more and more…
They started a slow song and it just hit me… ‘She wants to do this but she needs a little push.’ To myself, “Oh dear God, this must be love, because I am about to jump up, grab her hand and drag her out there… in running shorts and running shoes with all of these mountain folk.”
In a flash, I stood but… much like the first time you raised your hand in church or walked the aisle, except every eye wasn’t closed and no heads were bowed. This was on display for the small word of Floyd Country Store to see, visitors and all.
I grabbed her hand and said, “Come on.” ‘Elivis/preacher’ was smiling and ‘shoulder sway’ started clapping. Off we went. I put my arms around her and went to the right, to the left, to the right, ‘Dear God what am I doing?’ but the smile on her face said it all. Yes there were people looking at me trying to figure out what the mountain looking man fringe jacket, wearing running shorts, black socks and running shoes was doing on the floor, but they said nothing.
I would say it was the longest 4 minutes of my life, but in truth, with Elizabeth time stops counting and we just enjoy each other, no matter the setting. When the song was over I was greeted by ‘Elvis/preacher’ and ‘sway’ with pats on the back and ‘good job!’.
Now here is the funny part. The group just got more wild, the music went up in tempo, and the next thing I know, Elizabeth is up with ‘sway’ flat footing with him. I couldn’t help it, I just hooted out loud and pulled out the phone. I was thinking ‘no one is ever gonna believe this.’ This didn’t happen just once… she went up two more times! I think ‘sway’ might have been in his 80’s but clearly my Elizabeth was making his day. He was waving at folks in the audience and his comrades were giving him the ‘thumbs up’ as he got to dance with this ‘young filly’.
We headed out about 2 hours after this started, wore out but actually feeling great. For a few minutes,we forgot about kid troubles, bills, work, you know, all of that ‘stuff’ and stepped back in time… for a little Floyd Country Store flat footing…
Y’all come back now, ya hear!
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