Just sitting on my front porch enjoying the late September afternoon with the high temps cooling down a bit, letting my mind meander and bring up pleasant visions of the present and past.
I’m seeing butterflies and birds coming through our yard getting nectar from our flowers, building surplus energy for their journey to Central America for the upcoming winter.
Saturday morning, I was standing on the patio when a beautiful tiny green hummingbird flew up within a foot of my face and hovered looking at me for at least 30 seconds, then flew away.

Country Connections By James and Ellen Perry
While sitting on my front porch this late August afternoon listening to Tony Williams and the Platters’ version of “Sleepy Lagoon,” my mind wanders back to the early 1980s.
My family and I lived in Dothan, Alabama. The house next door sold and a new family moved in. They were from New Jersey and had bought the local Greyhound Bus Station. The people who owned the Greyhound franchise for Dothan had built a new bus station in a more accessible part of Dothan.

By James and Ellen Perry
While sitting on my porch this late July afternoon I’ve noticed that the daylight hours have shortened by 23 minutes since late June.
The days getting shorter means we are slowly moving toward fall and then winter. Although the daylight hours are changing, our hottest and driest month is usually August.

Country Connections By James and Ellen Perry
I am sitting on my porch this morning of June 20, 2022, enjoying a cup of coffee, and also enjoying an unusually cool beautiful late June morning.
We had a great spring with plenty of rain and cool weather which has blessed East Tennessee with some of the lushest green foliage and beautiful flowers spread over our beautiful state with gorgeous sunrises for all to enjoy at no cost.

Country Connections By James and Ellen Perry
It’s early morning and I’m sitting on my front porch pondering the emigration from Union County, Tennessee, that had been going on since the end of WWII in 1945.
Most immigrated to the northern states for a supposed better life provided by higher paying jobs in factories which had been suppressed in the South since the Civil War.

Sitting on my front porch on this beautiful late April day with the shadows growing long, the temperature is at 80 degrees with a bluebird sky and white azaleas and dogwoods in bloom—life’s treasures given by the Creator.
My thoughts wander over to two very nice and gentle brothers that have deep roots from Union County to Knox County’s Corryton and Gibbs areas.

Sitting here and thinking about how some people start from humble beginnings and achieve great success in their path through life. I have found that most successful people come from rural parts of the country, grew up poor, but rich in family and friends.
The people that I have met who were successful were honest, straightforward in their dealings and had perseverance. They didn’t just give up at their first disappointment.

Tullis Brown sat in his rocking chair in his and Sarah Brown’s bedroom watching the flames in his fireplace on this February 13, Valentine’s Eve.
It was a cold, windy night with heavy snow coming down. Tullis was a proud man nearing 80 years of age who married the prettiest girl from Redbud Hollow almost sixty years ago. Her maiden name was Sarah Loudon who came from a good family: Her father owned a good farm and a blacksmith shop in Redbud Hollow.

Thomas Andrew Dorsey was born July 1, 1899, to a religious and gospel music family in Vila Rica, Georgia. At the age of 17 he moved to Chicago and attended the College of Composition and Arranging. This set him on his life’s course as a gospel singer and songwriter.
During his life, Thomas wrote 3,000 songs with 1,000 being gospel songs. Two songs you may remember are his 1932 song, “Precious Lord, Take My Hand,” and in 1937 he wrote “Peace in the Valley.”

Country Connections by James and Ellen Perry
It being a couple of weeks ’til Christmas in 1952, Daddy said on Saturday morning, “Boys (to the four of us boys) it’s time to go up on the hill and look for a Christmas tree.”