In the hills of Tennessee

As I told a few of you, the reason I was meeting my parents in Tennessee was to work on and old family cemetery. The past few days have been spent doing exactly that. 

All ten headstones were knocked over, most of them partially buried. One was even grown over by the roots of a tree. Needless to say my mother has been working our fingers to the bone. We poured new concrete bases and glued the rest of the stones back together. 

One of the headstones belonged to my great, great grandfather, William Snoody. He was a Mason and inspired me to become one. It was really awesome to stand his stone back up. 

It was cool to be in a place where my ancestors have been for years. The oldest grave was dug in 1884. It's a cool feeling to think you've got roots somewhere in the hills of Tennessee. Tennessee is an awesome place. The country is covered in forests that are so thick I feel like it's a tropical rainforest. The people are all super polite and laid back. It's like going back in time where everything just moves slower. And everyone has an accent. I swear, I will marry a girl with a southern accent. And being this close to moonshine country, I got to try some of the late Popcorn Sutton's moonshine. 

I also got to go to the Grand Ole Opry, which was undoubtedly one of the highlights of Tennessee. There were so many old-timers there. Ricky Skaggs, Mel Tillis, Charlie Pride, all greats. It really felt like being there back in the old days. 

It was also nice meeting my mom's cousin Diane and her husband Scott. They're the kindest and funniest people in the whole state. Scott even let me touch his dad's Gibson 335 guitar, which was quite the treat. Everywhere I go I meet the nicest people. It was nice to be able to spend a little more time in one place. We head out for Kalamazoo, MI tomorrow.