William Hite was my Dad’s maternal grandfather. He was born near Staunton, Virginia, and was a Civil War veteran — on the confederate side. He married a much younger Alice Jameson in 1875, and in his adult life was a cabinet maker. In the 1920s he and Alice lived in Alderson with Granddad Farley’s family. … Read more
When it comes to a companion, I’d rather have a guitar than a dog. Now I’ve had dogs, and I love them. And my kids have had dogs, and their kids. Dogs are all that is written about them, and “man’s best friend” is a good descriptor. But here’s the thing: A guitar doesn’t poop … Read more
Depending on when you read this, “C&O” may not signify any meaning whatever. Here it is: C&O designates the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, one of America’s great railways which originally ran from Cincinnati to Norfolk. And West Virginia was squarely in its pathway — the C&O entered the state (from Ohio) close to Huntington, then … Read more
If you’ve read the entry on “Joplin Hollow,” you’ll find that this piece on fishing and camping is a hand-in-glove continuation about woods and waters. Having been introduced to the woods as a young boy, I was ecstatic when my Dad took me on my first camping-fishing trip. I was about eleven. He and a … Read more