Mountain Fun

Today I made my annual trip to the Flagpond Ramp Festival with my family. If you are not familiar with upper East Tennessee, Flagpond is the last stop on I-26 before you get to North Carolina. My husband's family lives there and every year the Saturday before Mother's Day we always go to the Ramp Festival. We get to spend some time with Granddaddy Roy, eat "tators and ramps", and listen to Bluegrass. For those of you who have never eaten or heard of a ramp, it's a wild leek. Allium tricoccum for those of you who like to get all technical!  I like them cooked in food but not raw. My sweetie pie can eat them raw, but.... Let's just saw they have a strong odor!  Now what does my weekend trip have to do with library? It reminded me of two of my favorite mountain stories.

I just love Cynthia Rylant! I like to read When I Was Young in the Mountains to my first graders as an introduction to autobiographies. After I read the story, I have them draw a picture of a favorite place or memory. Then they write about it like Mrs. Rylant. It has to be a real place they have visited to make it autobiographical.

Come a Tide is another one of my favorite stories to read in the spring. Ella George Lyon is such a wonderful author. This delightful story is about a spring flood in the mountains.

Why did I think of this one today? It rained, of course! I think it rains every year at some point during the Ramp Festival. It doesn't dampen our day.  Even my teenage boys always have a great time. If it's warm enough, they go swimming in the Blue Hole. Not I, says me. I don't like COLD mountain water, at least for swimming. (Ok, maybe in July!) Hopefully it won't be cool and rainy when we next visit Granddaddy. It should be little warmer in a couple weeks, even at the Blue Hole!

Happy Reading!