And So We Arrive!

Sunday, August 28, 2011...  We had a wonderful drive into Waynesville, NC and then on to the property.  By all accounts, we drove over 3,500 miles..... More to come....

Nashville

August 27, 2011... We drove into Nashville almost in time to make the Grand Ol Opry, but a traffic jam kaiboshed the possibility.  Instead, we stayed at the Indigo Hotel and loved it. Great rooms.  Nice vibe in Nashville, but no photos!  Tomorrow:  HOME!

Cairo, Illinois

Aug. 27, 2011... on the way to Nashville...  Here is another American city... er... town... er...hamlet... that flabbergasted us...

On the way from Missouri into Tennessee, we tried to take a detour from interstate 57 across the Mississippi and go through a small town to get in to Tennessee via a short stint in Kentucky.  Only the bridge we wanted to take was out, so we ended up going over the Mississippi into Illinois and then heading south through Cairo, Illinois into Kentucky (get your map out!).

Cairo was immediately moving to us... energetically it held mysteries that we could not determine the origin of.  Visually it was a devastated place that obviously had had a hey day...

Entrance to Cairo

Glory Days Gone By

Once the 3rd Busiest Post Office in the U.S.

Once with a population of over 20,000, it now has a little over 2,000 residents...and it looks more like this down street after street:

You can read all about it in one of the most fascinating accounts of history, we have heard of.  Cairo.

Highway Humor

August 25, 2011... We just had to post this!  It was hilarious.  Here we are driving through the linear lines of Kansas, row after row of cornfields, straight lined highways and we got to this section of the interstate that went on as it is in the photo for a couple of miles:

Either it was a malfunction in the machinery... or it was the a reaction to the boredom of the linearness of the landscape OR... it was the last day of someone who had had enough of the Dept of Transportation....

Big Spring, Missouri

August 26, 2011...  We decided to take a different route east rather than travel the interstate as we left Kansas and so we chose to go to a National Park and camp at Big Springs.  This is a marvel of nature.  It is a natural spring that comes up from the ground, BUT! it comes up at the rate of 280 million gallons a day!! BIG Spring!  It also comes up in the most beautiful color as you will see from the photos.

Big Spring as it comes out of the ground

Spring Water heading into the Current River

It is a Karst topography.  Here is a diagram that they had on display there...

Watercress growing under the spring water. Must be very pure.

Stella and Prue

We spent a beautiful night there at a quiet end of the campground.  We swam in the Current River at Sunset and then ate a wonderful meal together listening to the crickets and watching the stars come out!

Hidden Gems

Aug. 25, 2011... Every once in a while you encounter a place that speaks to you in some way.  Alma, Kansas was just such a place.  Off the beaten path a bit on the way east to Topeka, it is located in an area of the state known for its limestone and for.... the Famous "Alma Cheese"!  So we were given a little tour and learned about their products, bought some famous cheese and a little apple butter and continued our trip, further enriched by the contact!

The Side of the Truck Says it All!

Frances and Prue Dig In!

A Lesson in Alma Cheese!

Kouns Street

Aug. 25, 2011... My brother Bill told me there was a street named after my great grandfather in Topeka.... Well, there is!

Ancestral Threads

Aug. 25, 2011... This is Charlie.  My great grandfather is my namesake.  He was the first Charles Wesley Kouns. I am the IVth (being named for my dad's brother, Charlie III who died at age 27. He brought his family to Topeka in the early 1900's.   Along with his wife Carrie, he had two daughters Nellie and Sara. Their third child Charles W. Kouns, Jr., was born in Topeka.

I have long been curious about this man.  As I was growing up, I tried to piece together a psychological profile for the reasons for some of our family's more dysfunctional patterns as well as seeing the qualities that were nourishing that were passed down.  Going back in time beyond my great grandfather, who was born in 1854 was very difficult.  But as he was a man of some notoriety, I could learn many facts about his life.  But these did not tell me as much as certain decisions he made during the years.

His two daughters were musical phenomenons.  Nellie played waltzes on the piano beginning at age 3.  Nellie and Sarah had near mirror-voices and so when they were right out of high school, he sent them to Europe to study and train in music.  This was not done in those days as life on the stage for women was considered negatively for moral reasons. As a result, they went on to be a famous singing duet all over the world in the 20's and 30's.  This seems very visionary and courageous to me.

He worked for railroads most of his life. He began as a brakeman at age 17.  He ended his career as General Manager of the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, one of the largest in the country at the time.  When I was younger, my grandfather gave me his gold pocket watch, which was a gift from his employees.  At his funeral, 3,500 people attended and the entire railroad was stopped for a minute to honor his passing.  This suggests he was deeply regarded as a good man who treated people fairly and honestly.

But perhaps the most telling thing I discovered about him was on this trip to his gravesite.  I would like to share what is on his death stone.  It is an amazing inscription.

In case it is too hard to read: "In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength; and let thy presence hush me. Still me, make a great calm within me, that I may be wholly hushed within myself - wholly reflect thee".

This loving, gracious, flowing phrase (source of which I cannot find on the web...anyone?) speaks volumes to me and calls to me so deeply.  In the learnings I am experiencing these words are most appreciated and to hear them from my great grandfather, especially meaningful.  

I left the cemetery feeling more of a sense of who he was and with an inspiration in my heart to continue my journey into peace.

When we arrived at the cemetery, these lovely creatures greeted us:

I knew to approach in innocence and with no fear.  A beautiful welcoming.