About thirty five miles south of Charlottesville Virginia, you come upon the small mountain town of Lovingston Va; nestled in the heart of the "Blue Ridge" Mountains.
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| Parade down Main Street Lovingston Va. |
Heading west out of Lovingston, along Crabtree Falls Hwy, up into the Blue Ridge mountains, you'll come across Perkins Mill Rd. Take a right, and drive till the pavement ends.
At the end of the road you'll discover a popular off road spot called 'Shoe Creek Trail' and you will need a
four wheel drive to traverse the rocky terrain.
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| "Shoe Creek Trail Head" |
But if you travel further along the trail and back in time; over several decades, this 'off road' trail was home to my mom and her family.
'Shoe Creek' trail was the path that mom's family would go back and forth, to visit other relatives. Several of her cousins and their families lived on the mountain.
Or they would go down to Lovingston for supplies, and then head back up the trail to Shoe Creek.
Mom's oldest brother Bill says "our transportation was when our Uncle Rufus would lend us his old horse. He was the only one up there who had cars; a Model A Ford and a special built Dodge touring car made to haul his Moonshine whiskey to Lynchburg Va, which he sold for twenty five cents a pint."
"Sometimes we would go with Uncle Rufus to the
grocery store which was 8 miles away and the post office was 12 miles away.
And then walk back carrying our groceries in a hemp sack on our back" says Uncle Bill.
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| The Homestead, Shoe Creek Va. |
Living up in the hallows and narrow mountain roads, made Mountain families a hearty bunch.
To get the the house Bill says "you must navigate across the
same creek 7 times, no bridges or anything except rocks to get to our
place. We didn't mind wading thru the creeks as we were always barefooted."
Then at the end of the trail we would be home."
Mom's family had very little in the way of material things, but they had each other.
As my Uncle Bill says "we
never had but a pair of shoes until about November and if they would
last that long, it would be Christmas time before we got any. But we didn't
mind .We didn't know any better."
If you happen to go to Shoe Creek today, pull the Jeep over to the side, kill the engine and listen. You will hear the running water from Crabtree Falls and the wind blowing through the hickory oaks.
But close your eyes and really listen. You will hear voices from the past; the voices of children laughing as they walk along the creek bed; voices of mothers calling out to their kids to come home for supper.
These are the voices from the Mountain Family who lived along the Shoe Creek Trail.
But all of us have 'voices from the past' that whisper in our memories and in the stories our families tell.
These voices tell us who we are and where we come from.
Every once in a while it's nice to go back and listen.
