Perseverance Creek

Zionville, North Carolina. 1985. My father had passed on in the Month of Snow in the Teepee of that year. I wanted to do something to honor him with the savings he had given me. There was an acre of land off Highway 421 North within 12 miles of Boone. I decided I wanted to have a cabin built from a kit. The builder, Spencer Mains, was offering the land and threw in another half acre as part of the deal. He was getting started with his own company. Right in front of where he thought a good place to situate the cabin, there was a trickle of water, barely an inch wide but to me it had all the makings of a creek. I told the carpenters who were setting up the cabin kit on a flat area beside a rocky hill that I was going to call the trickle Perseverance Creek. There were four carpenters and they laughed with glee. I told them I wanted a bridge going over. The next time I went to see the progress, there was a big triangular stake with RIVER QWAI written on it. The carpenters were not stereotypical. One had BILBOA on the license tag of his truck. He was an expert on The Lord of the Rings. Another was a songwriter who when the cabin was finished wrote such a beautiful message that I framed it and wished him much success. In May, Spencer stopped by to see how we had fared during the winter. I pointed proudly to Perseverance Creek. It was a full blown creek with cascades that went on down to the road and had the sound of a rushing stream. He was so surprised. Word got around and people came to see the creek. Wildflowers sprang up around it and climbed the bridge. He said he would put out a brochure with the model we had used to be called Perseverance Creek. What brought this to mind was watching, "Song of the Mountains" with Lucille. The singer, Donna Hughes, came from Randolph County, North Carolina and the story of her career was pure perseverance at work. She sang a song about a bluebird, asking it questions I wouldn't have thought to ask. I was pleased to have the connection to the mountains revived. One of my mother's favorite sayings was, "Perseverance wins." She was delighted when she came to live with us. Indeed it does and there are lovely reminders all along the way to reaching a destination. The last I heard, the cabin still stands. The first little live tabletop Christmas tree now reaches higher than the chimney and the creek perseveres.
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...may the blessings of keeping to a vision be yours these coming September days...