Where have I been? What have I been doing?

Over the past ten months, I have enjoyed a camping trip about once a month. Each time I head out of my driveway in my truck pulling the camper, with Faith in the back seat, I am amazed. How in the world can I be doing this again?

When I bought my first camper, I imagined I would do the camping thing for three or four years, surely no more than five, and then likely be ‘too old’. Yet, here I am still doing it at the age of seventy-three. And I know other women my age who are also seasoned girl campers who are showing no signs of slowing down.

Last weekend, I returned to Forkland, in Greene County, Alabama. I was there back in 2023 at this same time of year. On that first visit, I discovered St. John-in-the-Prairie Episcopal Church, the most amazing historical gothic building constructed in 1859-1860, moved west across an entire river after the Civil War, and moved again to it’s present location in 1878.

Think of all the people who have kept this precious church standing for 166 years, through war, and moves, storms and floods of the Tombigbee and Black Warrior rivers, termites and financial crashes and a dwindling population and revenue. Think of the people who still today are dedicated to maintaining the sacred structure and the accompanying graveyard, and to keeping on with worship services there once a month.

Then–

I was eager to see what had happened to the house I had seen in 2023 that was totally covered with vegetation. Would it still be standing? Had the vines and bushes and trees totally sucked it in?

A 1966 newspaper feature displayed inside the church details the history of the area. The photo in the right bottom is that very same house. It tells that the house was built in 1831 and once served as a stagecoach stop.

Who is clearing the house and land? Is the clearing done to simply tear down the house and sell the land? Or, hopefully, can it be the county historical society starting to restore the historic structure?

I’ll have to wait for another camping trip to the area to find out.

In the meantime, I’m still going to be camping and finding interesting sights, churches and graveyards my favorite. Below are two churches I found on this trip, when I stopped in Wilcox county.

The churches were in Catherine, Alabama, which had once been a real town with mills and stores, but is now little more than a blink on a narrow, patchy county road. It is the sort of place that when you stop on the side of the road to photograph two churches–Baptist and Presbyterian–side by side, separated only by a swath of mowed lawn, the man who who lives across the street sees you and comes over to let you inside and tells you all about the history.

And yes, services are still held inside each church.

Praise God for the faithful, keeping on keeping on.

So that is what I have been doing, keeping on keeping on busy living and enjoying life, rather than writing about it.

Blessings,