Wow, it’s been a long time since I posted here! So today I will catch up by starting with the present, take a visit to the past, and plans for the future.
I flew into Raleigh Durham Airport yesterday for my very first time in North Carolina. Well, I have deep roots here as my biological father was from here and I have lots of distant family from both my mom and dad’s side, along with the bio family. That’s all just a happenstance, though. I am actually here for work, thus the future.
I chose to arrive a few days before my training begins so I could explore and meet up with some people I haven’t seen since I was about 8 years old. My first night was spent in Cary. I was tired after a long day flying cross country so I limited my exploration to the hotel and spent time working on my other website, reading, and relaxing.
This morning I took off for a three hour meandering drive toward the central-west part of North Carolina. It looks surprisingly as green as Washington and I had actually arrived during a very big rainstorm yesterday. That was a welcome surprise since I expected my time here to be unbearably hot and humid, thus miserable in that sense, but I’ve been blessed with cloudy weather in the 70’s.
I set out on my drive telling the Mapquest app to avoid freeways and tollways. I like to explore and I had every expectation that I would see lots of churches and part of me really, really wanted to attend a “black church” service because I think the spirit moves those congregations in a very special way. By the time I got on the road and started seeing anything remotely like that, church was over. I actually expected to see mostly Baptist churches, and I did see several. I LOVE the names – Mt. Zion, Mt. of Olives, etc. All a nod to one of my favorite places on earth, Jerusalem.
I came to a community of absolutely giant houses – mansions – all built very recently. The architecture was amazing!
The first town I stopped in was a little cute place called Pittsboro. I actually stopped not for the church, but because there was the coolest antique store with an entire yard full of things made of metal.
Chickens, turtles, big foot… you name it. Well, of course it was closed being Sunday in the south, but I got out and took photos and walked around the little main street.
In an alleyway I found a beautiful mosaic on a wall- mirrored and tiled into a flower garden and birds; right up my alley, literally! There was a Presbyterian church getting underway but I passed it by and looked in all the shop windows. Nothing would open until after 12 so I got back in the car and kept heading west.
There are swamp lands, kind of a little reminder of Louisiana, and the cicada are so loud it is kind of overwhelming. I stopped at the next church I saw which had a few people standing outside. It was a cute white chapel and a gentleman was nice enough to invite me inside for photos of what he said was a Quaker church, built in 1907. I asked if he was the pastor. He said they don’t have pastors in Quaker churches. People gather and share “whatever the spirit moves them to share”. There is no set agenda. He says sometimes it is just silent and people share in the presence. “It cuts out the middle man; having a pastor can make people lazy,” he said. I agreed. It sounded like a good way to be held accountable for knowing what the Bible actually says and relying on God’s Holy Spirit to guide you to understanding. While leaders are not necessarily a bad thing, I see their point and I am going to study up on Quakers. All I ever knew about them was that they were the pilgrims who came to America due to the inability to worship freely in England. Who knows what all got left out of our schooling. The man said Quakers had been in this area since 1700’s, so it all makes sense.
So, I continued down the road and came upon a sign for Snow Camp. I had seen signs in peoples yards starting a few miles back saying NO Snow Camp Mine. I will have to look that up. I pulled off to head to Snow Camp and saw a sign, an historical marker, along the road which said
The Quakers Society of Friends were early anti-slavery supporters of the Underground Railroad. Once the war erupted and Alamance County residents chose sides, supporters of the Confederacy regarded the Friends as Unionists. Never attacked directly by their neighbors, the Quakers were subjected to various pressures to conform. The government, attempting to enforce conscription acts, not only tried to persuade Quaker conscripts to renounce their faith, but also inflicted physical and psychological violence on them.
Solomon Frazier, of neighboring Randolph County, endured an experience suffered by many others. Early in the war, Frazier paid a $500 fine to avoid conscription. By 1864 however, when Confederate manpower needs were acute, he was arrested and taken to prison in Salisbury. There, despite being beaten to make him renounce his beliefs, he refused on religious grounds to “take up the gun” or to serve as a prison guard. When the officer in charge became furious with him, Frazier said, “If is thy duty to inflict the punishment on me, do it cheerfully, don’t get angry about it”. When rifle barrels were leveled at his face, Frazier calmly added, “It is the Sabbath and as good a day to die as any”. Never broken, he survived his mistreatment and the war.
William Thomson, conscripted from this congregation was killed at Gettysburg, leaving a wife Martha and small children. At lease seven Confederate veterans are buried in the cemetery a mile west, a silent tribute to the Friends’ spirit of forgiveness of those who did take up the gun.
I drove for many more miles, stopping at graveyards, churches, and anything else that caught my eye. I’m always fascinated when traveling outside the great Pacific Northwest what kind of roadkill other places have. Texas has those dang armadillos, Florida had the baby alligators, and I’m sure each area has it’s specialty. Washington it’s bunnies, opossum, raccoon, and the occasional porcupine and deer. North Carolina has pretty much the same as us, only they have vultures that come along and pick them clean! That was a first for me!
I stopped for lunch in Greensboro. I had tried to call and meet up with the cute couple we met last year on our Israel trip – Sheila Ann and Junior. So far I have had no luck getting in touch to make a plan, so tomorrow I will just pop in on them! Lunch was at a Steak and Seafood place called NOLA – all inspired by New Orleans style cuisine. My waiter was awesome. He is from Iran, studying civil engineering at the University here, and he sat right down in my booth and talked to me for awhile. Very outgoing and when I left he even decided I should have an iced tea to go since I had a lot of driving to do. Isn’t that just the best?
I finally arrived at my Aunt and Uncle’s house in King. I have not seen them since late 1960’s! My cousin, Laura, who I don’t even remember, came right outside to greet me and welcome me. It was so absolutely lovely to spend several hours out on the deck listening to Aunt Ruth’s childhood memories, good and bad and ugly, and to learn all about her life. She and Henry have been married 61 years and she was my dad’s twin sister, the last of 16 children.
Aunt Ruth will turn 80 years old in just a few days. Trying to imagine my dad, who died when he was only 41, is hard to do. She described her spiritual connection to him, told me her testimony of faith, and how God’s love has brought her through so much loss in life. We went to dinner and celebrated her birthday and had a wonderful time.
Tomorrow I’m going to head out for some Civil War history lessons here in Winston Salem, then go back to Greensboro to see if I can get one more good visit in before my business trip begins.
Past, present, or future – My life is blessed with so many people and experiences. I am thankful for each one.
Good times