[at-l] TN country WAS New Georgia Interstate to cross Trail twice

[carol1944 at brmemc.net (Carol Donaldson)]

Which reminds me,

Seems there was this old farmer up in the hills who lived alone with his dogs.  He had no phone, no electricity and no indoor plumbing.  His family was concerned because they hadn't heard from him in a while and they asked the local sheriff's office if someone could go check on him to be sure he was okay.

Well, it wasn't on the high end of the agenda, but one fair day a deputy sheriff went up the dirt road and finally found the man's house.

He was sitting outside with his dogs, taking a break from chopping wood.  The sheriff's deputy introduced herself and being a good host, the old man asked her in for a cup of coffee and a bite of blueberry pie he'd just cooked.

The sheriff's deputy went into the dark house and when her eyes adjusted to the dimness she saw that the man had a fairly well-kept home with a bed off to one corner hidden by quilts hanging from ropes tied to the rough sawn timbers.  The old man saw her looking around and explained that he'd found this place back in the depression era as a young child out wandering while picking berries and had decided one day he'd own it and live here.  He'd never married but had two very well behaved 'yard dogs' which wandered in and out of the log and wood home at will.  She gazed at the handmade furniture and then sat in a handmade chair and the table while the old man dished out the pie on two exceptionally clean plates. 

While eating, the deputy noticed that there was no water inside the house but there was a 'dry sink' along the area used for preparing food.  There was an old wood stove off center on the far wall of the cabin.  She asked the old man how he came to make such a delicious pie and if he'd cooked it himself.  He explained that his Mama had taught him to cook on a wood stove when he was young and that she'd often send him up to this area to pick blueberries and raspberries and the occasional wild strawberries.  The sheriff's deputy exclaimed that the pie was delicious and the old man told her how he used wild honey in place of sugar whenever he ran out.  He told her that he usually made the 15 mile trip down the rutted dirt road into town once every couple of months, but his arthritis had caused him not to walk into town so he was 'making do' with what he had in his 'larder.' 

After the pie was eaten, the deputy then asked the old man how he was able to keep his house so clean and his dishes so shiny and clean with no running water inside the house.  The old man laughed and said that he had made himself a 'real good broom' and swept his house a couple times a day to clean up the dust and dirt the dogs trotted in.  As for the dishes, he said he used cold water to wash them. 

Satisfied that the old man was quite capable of taking care of himself and letting him know that she would relay the information to his family, the deputy opened her car door to get into the car when she heard the old man whistle and say "Coldwater, c'mon in here, I got another couple plates for you to clean."

Coosa 
----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Robert 

  even more curious... my brother performed in boston the other night and they did songs from their new cd... one of which is coldwater, tennessee... a sorrowful song much like jukebox hero only countrified... where is coldwater... is it around erwin or near 26 or i-whatever :D