Memories ~
From Falls Church to Kilmarnock
© 2007 Abilini's Computer Services
Stones
(1970 – 1978)
Mom was born in the mountains of Virginia in a small town called Clifton Forge.
Clifton Forge is right on the Virginia / West Virginia border. (What I always
thought, was interesting, it has a sign that states: Kilmarnock 389 miles:
However, no single road covers that whole distance, so why have a sign?) Mom
told me that she always wanted a house with a ‘stone fireplace and chimney’.
And, she wanted stones from Clifton Forge’s Cow Pasture River for her fireplace.
Beginning in 1970, mom, dad, the twins and I would pile into the green station
wagon, to go to Clifton Forge to see my grandmother. Eventually we would go to
the Cow Pasture River to collect stones. (If you know anything about cars they
are only designed to support a specific amount of weight.) Well that didn’t mean
anything to my mother! We would put between three and four hundred pounds of
stones in the back of the wagon every time for at least 12 trips. (The part of
the trips that I remember wasn’t playing in the river or swinging on the
suspension bridge or determining which stones to collect it was the ride home).
The ride up the mountain was boring you were always going up-hill and the top
speed was around 30 mph. But going down the mountain was another story! My
mother grew up driving those mountain roads and dad was never allowed to drive
down the mountain. The drive down averaged around 70 mph winding and making very
sharp curves with at least three screaming kids and always one scared-to-death
father in the car. She (mom) would laugh sing carry on weird conversations and
we knew when we had reached the bottom because she would look at dad and say
“Now that wasn’t that bad was it?” Dad never answered she would pull over and
they would switch positions. Dad would drive the rest of the way back to
Kilmarnock.
After the forth or fifth trip dad would stop coming with us to Clifton Forge. He
told us “that someone had to work to pay for all the car repair bills” but we
all knew he just didn’t like mom’s driving. Well about the sixth or seventh
trip the car was worn out. We knew this because after coming down the mountain
at 70 mph and reaching the nice flat road at the bottom the shocks in the back
broke. The car then rode on the springs with the front of the car pointing at
the sky. Mom had to sit on a pillow in order to see over the hood of the car!
The car repairman must have had some strange thoughts about this family. Every
other week the car would be brought in for another pair of shocks. The first set
cost money to replace but all the other sets were under a warranty so mom would
double-load the back of the car with rocks so we wouldn’t have to make more
trips (around 800 pounds of stones for 5 of the trips).
In 1979 my parents had a builder come see them one weekend in Kilmarnock. They
drafted some plans and walked the area where the new house was to be built. The
builder pointed out problems and other key points with the design of the house.
One of the problems was that is was going to put my parents way over budget
building a stone fireplace. My mother maneuvered him to a specific location and
quickly asked “Why?” The builder stated “That the stones would have to be
brought in and that would be expensive.” My mother then looked at my father and
then looked at the builder and said “look out don’t trip!” The builder looked
down where they were walking and said “Holy mackerel where in the world did you
get all these stones?” My mother simply said “From my home where I was born”.
Need I say more?
Most stone fireplaces are made of cinderblock and then have a veneer of stones
covering the face and hearth of the fireplace. Our stone fireplace is 100% stone
with only a cinderblock shaft for the chimney. If you go into our crawlspace or
into our attic you will see a real ‘stone fireplace and chimney’.
Sub Note: My co-workers don’t understand; Why, I don’t like roller
coasters!