The United States, once upon a time not long ago, was filled with family farms. You could walk along a country road and pass family after family. They'd maybe be working in the fields or around in the yard. They might be lounging on the porch drinking sweet cold tea. No big operations on houseless land, no amalgamations, no paved roads, no total efficiency, just home. They'd wave, and you'd wave. Growing fills a child's day all the way up. Years later we might -- or might not -- remember what was happening in the big world. Like the Great Depression, which (for some) was gone. And World War II, fought by Americans (mostly farm boys) far from home. In the 1940s, a child was growing up hungry to learn. She already knew that mules, herd dogs, and turkey gobblers don't like children but nanny goats and little dogs do, that bare feet are best, and that money is 'way less important than freedom and good grownups. Soon as she could read and print, she filled a dime-store diary every year. Each had a tiny clasp and key. At the end of summer 1949 she unlocked her diaries and found them tricky to read but full of true-to-life telling about animals, clashes, bravery, tangles, crops, shadows, lightning bugs and lightning. She spent 4 months translating their jumble into 20-some notebooks. Being in school by now and seeing differences, she added fierce defenses of feed-sack playclothes, outdoor toilets, and country ways. Being so young, the child couldn't grasp these further challenges of the 1940s: Farms are where the Great Depression hit first and gripped longest. Family farms depend on people who belong on the land, who brave its uncertainties. Those people are not considered good credit risks. Others without a clue how valuable farm life can be might get title. This means the ones with the most to lose often lose. Far more Americans went to war from farms than cities. Many came home eager to take up the lives they laid down. But post-war farmland could be bought up cheap by outsiders. On this confusing new battleground, who is the enemy? The Depression and the Duration combined to teach a dangerous double lesson: Take life day by day. Don't look too far forward. MINERAL SPRINGS ROAD 1940s is a little girl's notebooks, put together and expanded from memory. Its characters are tame, half-tame, and wild. At age not-quite-10, she's only half-tame herself, and too busy growing to realize how much she knows. Some chapters in her book: Reddish-Goldilocks Walking-Distance People How We Got Toby Pee Dee Country Nanny and the Soft Top Cap's Luck How Not To Ride a Mule Day of the Mad Fox The Army Air Base, the WAC, and Lassie Darlington Auction Market The Mint-Green House Storm, Lightning, Fire and Rain The Smell of Singed Fur The Mineral Spring Red Leather Pony And the last -- 28 December 1949 MINERAL SPRINGS ROAD 1940s is first in M B Spears' planned series MEMORY IS MY NAME.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Autumn presents a stunning array of colors in rural East Tennessee, and Discovering October Roads is the perfect traveler's companion for better enjoying those scenic views. In a compelling, anecdotal narrative, the book describes seven road trips through the region, discussing not only the leaf colors to be seen but also the geology, landscape, and cultural history to be found along each route. In their introduction, Harry Moore and Fred Brown offer an overview of the geologic history and topography of East Tennessee as well as an accessible explanation of the science behind the changing leaf colors. They also discuss a number of common trees and the autumn color associated with each. In the chapters that follow, the authors' descriptions of road trips are arranged according to three geographic areas: the Blue Ridge, the Valley and Ridge, and the Cumberland Plateau. Complementing the narrative is a wealth of illustrations, including maps, geologic line drawings, and photographs--many of which are reproduced in color. Discovering October Roads will prove an indispensable resource for anyone seeking a deeper appreciation of East Tennessee's fall finery. The Authors: Harry Moore is a geologist with the Tennessee Department of Transportation and the author of A Roadside Guide to the Geology of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and A Geologic Trip across Tennessee by Interstate 40. Fred Brown is a feature writer and columnist for the Knoxville News-Sentinel. He is the author, with Jeanne McDonald, of Handling Serpents: Three Families and Their Faith and Growing Up Southern: How the South Shapes Writers.