Friday, 20 September 2013

Down in a Tennessee "Holler"


     My cousin, Molly and her family live in a hollow (a small valley, locally pronounce 'holler') close to the Kentucky border in Tennessee.  They own a beautifully situated farm complete with a strong flowing spring next to their home on the lower wooded slopes of a hill, with hayfields, pastures, and a crystal clear creek occupying the narrow flat bottom of the valley.
     For years I have been hearing interesting stories about Molly's farm, their four talented youngsters, and their lives, living in the rural Tennessee hill country.  I have been urged numerous times to go give them a visit, but after traveling all the way from British Columbia to Indiana, it was hard for me to mount an additional 3 hour drive to Tennessee to visit them.  
     On their farm, Molly has a herd of 60 Jacob sheep.  They are a very strange breed, with mottled wool coats and bizarre and numerous horns.  They have a sinister look to them.  Molly sells the wool and even buttons and other items made from the horns at a yearly crafts' festival.
     Guarding the sheep are two wild donkeys that were gotten from a wild donkey roundup in Death Valley.  They and her numerous dogs protect the flock from coyotes which are about the only predators in the area. 
     Tomorrow I will write about exploring a cave.


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