Jonesborough Storytelling

Hey, Y'all,

My friend, Ina Ray, and I had a wonderful day at Jonesborough today. We left Jefferson City at about 7:45 a.m. and ate Hardee's sausage and biscuits as we traveled. The morning was beautiful and clear making the drive very pleasant.

We arrived in Jonesborough about 9 a.m. and parked in the local middle school yard and then boarded a city bus that was used as a shuttle to take people to the downtown Jonesborough. The cost of the shuttle ride was only a dollar per person each way.

After a stop at the Welcome Center, we headed for the College Street tent, one of five tents that were set up in the downtown area of the city. There must have been close to fifteen thousand people in the city today. (See pictures of one tent emptying after a storyteller had finished an hour's storytelling) It is only a partial picture of the tent.

We heard John McCutcheon, Donald Davis, and Carmen Deedy. John is a folksinger storyteller who is master of a dozen different musical instruments, including the hammered dulcimer; Donald Davis is a teller from North Carolina and tells wonderful stories of his life and growing up years; and Carmen's family came from Cuba during the Cuban Revolution to the state of Georgia, when she was only a little girl. She tells amusing and arresting stories of her life after coming to Georgia. We enjoyed all of the stories we heard and can hardly wait to go again next year!

Both Ina and I have back problems, so we only stayed through three wonderful storytellers. Even with a cushion (that we carried with us), sitting on metal folding chairs is not the best of conditions for a long duration. Then we headed for the place where we could catch a bus shuttle back to the school.

We stopped at Applebee's in Greeneville for a late lunch and then traveled back to my home in New Market. Of course, as we traveled, we caught up on events that had happened to us over the past year. Unfortunately, we don't get a chance to see each other very often; and although we chat online, that is not like talking in person. Ina and I have been friends for almost 20 years.

When we got back home, I took a picture of her standing on my front porch, and she held out the camera in front of us and took a picture of the two of us. Funny! We looked natural because both our mouths were open, laughing!

I found that Gramps had had a good day with Mark and Allie keeping an eye on him and feeding him a good lunch of KFC. It was good for him, I am sure, for me to get away and leave him with someone else, and it was just as good for me to get away, period. Too much togetherness can be stifling for both parties. (It is no party, for sure). ha.

When our friends, Gene and Judy, got home last night from the storytelling festival, they told us what a wonderful time they had at the festival, and we had a great time talking about some of the storytellers they had heard. I was so pleased to hear about it.

Tomorrow will be a quiet day, I am sure, and I may get out for a while to go to the grocery store after breakfast or maybe even before breakfast. Well, that is all for this evening from Blabbin' Grammy. God bless each of you, and if you have a chance to go to church and worship with others, I trust you will take it. Love from us. Bye for now.