Sunday Shirking

This cover by Norman Rockwell is from May 16th, 1959 is titled "Sunday Morning." I use it as one of my "Gone Fishing" signs. Generally, when you see a Norman Rockwell illustration on my page it means I'm off today. So, that's me hiding behind the newspaper, shirking whatever I am supposed to be doing.

"Life Is Like a Mountain Railroad" - Jerry Lee Lewis (1983)

Jerry Lee Lewis grew up in a religious atmosphere. His two cousins; the legendary Mickey Gilley and Jimmy Swaggart,  also made their fortunes entertaining people using the gospel; Mickey as a performer, and  Jimmy as a preacher; entertaining people in his own unique way. But  Jerry Lee took a slightly different path, and wound up entertaining people by playing rock and roll, with gospel music, also making a fortune in the bargain. See the difference? Neither do I.

This recording of the iconic country ballad “Life Is Like a Mountain Railroad” was evidently inspired by Mr. Lewis knowing the song; which was written in 1890; coupled with his having just recently seen the TV movie “Mr. Horn”, with David Carradine and Richard Widmark. That film was made for TV and later remade into the feature film “Tom Horn” with Steve McQueen. It’s the story of an overly idealistic frontiersman, cavalry scout and bounty hunter who takes things too far, and is hung for his excesses in 1903.

The book was originally written as a novel by William Goldman and found its way to television in the late 1970’s. Apparently, Mr. Lewis had seen the film and remembered the old gospel song from his youth. The song was written by a Baptist Minister named M.E. Abbey as a hymn, with the only written part being the chorus. The other lyrics were added later by Eliza R. Snow. Curiously the song was copyrighted in 1890 by Abbey and Tillman, with no mention of Ms. Snow’s contribution. The song has been a staple in country music for almost a century now, with recordings by just about everybody from the Carter Family to Linda Ronstadt.

The message in the song is pretty clear; life is like a mountain railway, with cliffs on one side and a steep wall of rock on the other. That’s the path of the “straight and narrow”. No room for error. The engineer is all of us, who must work hard at keeping the train on the track against the overwhelming obstacles which life constantly heaps in our path. And of course, there is always someone who watches over us, lending an unseen hand when the going gets too rough for us to handle.

"Life Is Like A Mountain Railroad"

Life is like a mountain railroad

With an engineer so brave

We must make this run successful

From the cradle to the grave

Watch the curves, the fills the tunnels

Never falter, never fail

Keep your hand upon the throttle

And your eye upon the rail.

Oh, blessed Savior, thou wilt guide us

Til we reach that blissful shore

Where the angels wait to join us

In God's grace forever more.

As you roll across the trestle

Spanning Jordan's swelling tide

You behold the union depot

Into which your train will glide

There you'll meet the superintendent

God the Father, God the Son

With a hearty, joyous greeting

Weary pilgrim, welcome home.

Poking Around Fort Dobbs

It's a beautiful time of year in North Carolina. The stifling heat of the summer has given way to a glorious autumn, with the trees changing colors faster than the squirrels scampering to hide food for the winter. Sue and I love to ride around and find things to look at. We have passed by the Fort Dobbs sign so many times in our 13 years in North Carolina, that state law now required us to make a mandatory visit. Well, that's not quite true, but we did decide to visit the Fort yesterday. It was closed.

Now, that's not as bad as one would think. Having arrived at the site of the Fort, we were greeted by an empty parking area and a deserted site. Fort Dobbs has no walls, or fortifications, it is simply the remains of the fort grounds, with a reconstructed homesite, and no gates. So we roamed around, soaking up a bit of sun while we did.

The Forts history dates back to 1755, when Governor Dobbs requested that a fort be built at the Western "frontier" of the state. It's hard to imagine that this was about as far West as most of the settlers from the East had come in 1755, but it is true. There were many settlers beyond that frontier, but they were strictly on their own. The area beyond this point was Cherokee country. The Fort was built for defense against Indian attacks from the Cherokees, who had aligned themselves with the French, in what became known as the French-Indian Wars.

The Fort was built in 1756 and stood as a garrison on the site. It was more like a big box type of wooden structure, with a roof, than a conventional fort. It housed 50 men.

The fort came under attack late on the night of February 27, 1760 by more than 60 Indians. The settlers suffered two casualties, and one death, while the reports indicate that 10-12 Cherokee were killed, or wounded.

Not much remains of the Fort, just some outlines in the earth where the garrison once stood. By 1761 the garrison was moved further West, and by 1766 Fort Dobbs was in total ruins. The land is pristine and virtually untouched since the days of the fort. I hope it stays that way.

For a quick overview of the site, and the role it played in local history, this link will take you to the official web site for Fort Dobbs;

http://fortdobbs.org/history-fortdobbs.htm