Just got home from a weekend with Darrell and the guys as they went to California – California, Kentucky that is. I had no idea there was a California, Kentucky until Darrell started singing with the Patriot Quartet. That’s where the lead singer grew up. It’s up in Northern Kentucky close to Alexandria. Actually we were at Beech Grove and Silver Springs this weekend.
In Kentucky we like to give every broad place in the road a name and then start up a couple of churches on opposite sides of the road. Makes for a lot of good places for the guys to sing and fun place names for me to try to remember. Here in my county we have Stringtown, Birdie, Rutherford, Alton, Glensboro, Avenstoke, Sinai, Ripyville – just to name a few. There are a lot of very interesting place names in the state. I used Grundy in my Hollyhill books just because I liked thinking about somebody from Grundy. The newspaper has been running a series of articles where they go out to a neat sounding community name and try to dig up the roots of the name. Sometimes they have a challenge just digging up the community because the one general store, church and perhaps one-room schoolhouse have long disappeared from the memory of most of the people who live in the area now. But they still have their dot on the map. What names of towns make you smile? Maybe you grew up in a community with an unusual name.
Anyway the quartet had a good singing weekend. They sang right here at home on Friday night outside for a church who had rented out lots for the 127 Yard sale and were giving everybody a free supper and entertainment. The Yard Sale had loads of cars all along the roads and most of us homebodies are glad they’ve all gone home. It makes driving very interesting when people slam on their brakes to make a sudden yard sale turn or decide your yard is the best place to park or turn around whether you’re actually having a yard sale or not. I’m too far off the beaten path to have that problem, but I’ve heard others complaining.
Saturday the guys went north to sing at Beech Grove – again outside for a camp meeting gathering of churches in the area. This morning they were at the Silver Springs Church and boy, can those people cook. That’s one of the advantages of riding along with the quartet. I get to eat those delicious church dinners right along with them without cooking a thing. Tonight the guys sang at Crestwood in Frankfort. Had a great reception to their new release “American Christian” everywhere they sang. Hope if you hear it on the radio you’ll enjoy it too.
Some kind people have already bought my new book, The Believer, and read it. And the sweet comments have warmed this writer’s heart. Thank you. Don’t forget. If you’re in the area and want to hear some writer stories, come on out to the Anderson County Public Library on Saturday, August 22 at 1 p.m. I’m going to be celebrating the new book with a booktalk, maybe a reading, lots of back and forth discussion time and some door prizes. For those of you who aren’t in the area, I’ll post a new giveaway on that weekend so you can join in the giveaway fun.
Thanks for reading. And being reading friends.