On the Road Again

Sorry I have been incommunicado lately. I am still struggling with allergies that seem to get worse rather than better. Ah, fall in North Alabama.

Speaking of fall, this weekend my sister, her husband, and two of our friends made a road trip to the hills of middle Tennessee taking the little Toyota RV and my friend’s VW EuroVan camper. On the way up, we stopped for a delicious lunch at O’ Hulihan’s on the square (spicy Reuben sandwich on a pumpernickel bun) in Fayetteville (now there’s a happening little town). Then we headed north up into the hills to spend the night at our friend Scott’s recently completed geodesic dome—his new home since his house burned a couple of years ago.

Here is picture of my brother-in-law, blues musician Billy C. Farlow, in front of Scott’s house when it was under construction last year. As Scott remarked when we arrived, "these hills may not be Elk River, but they are the next best thing. " 

How relaxing it was to sit outside as the sun dropped behind the trees, listening to only the quiet lowing of nearby cattle. When I looked up at the stars in the middle of the night, I felt as if I could touch them. Haven’t seen a sky like that since I was in the Jemez Mountains in New Mexico.

By the way while you are browsing around Swampland, be sure to read the review of Dr. Carter Martin’s novel Kelbrn. I have known Carter for almost thirty years. He was an English professor at the University of Alabama Huntsville when I taught English at Athens State University. Kelbrn is his first published novel and definitely worth reading. His previous books include The True Country: Themes in the Fiction of Flannery O’Conner. Carter is currently working on his fourth novel and as well as a collection of poetry. His poem “Visiting Waterfalls in Bankhead Forest” was published in the recent anthology Whatever Remembers Us.

Speaking of Whatever Remembers Us, be sure to check out the Discourse division later this week for a poem by the incredibly talented Bonnie Roberts.

Regarding coming attractions, watch Swampland for a feature on the renowned clothing designer and entrepreneur Billy Reid whose flagship store is in Florence, Alabama, and later this fall, look for Conversations with novelist Nanci Kincaid.

--Penne J. Laubenthal

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