In The Whispering Pines
“In the pines…In the pines… where the sun never shines…”
A few nights ago, we watched “Coalminer’s Daughter” and I keep thinking about the song Loretta sang to her babies as they drifted off to sleep. I’ve paced the floor singing the same song, and many other tunes familiar to Loretta Lynn fans over the years, memories of times spent with various members of her band, or her children in Waverly, Tennessee. Those were good years, and I’ve missed many of my friends from those summers spent in Tennessee.
A few days back, I was surfing Facebook looking for a particular friend. We’d spent several summers at FanFare in Nashville, visiting friends and having pizza in parking lots. It just seemed that we should reconnect after having so much fun. I didn’t find her, so I asked Loudilla Johnson, the one friend I was sure she’d keep in touch with, if she knew where I could find her. Lou gave me her married name (which I didn’t have) and told me she was on facebook. We’ve connected, and interacted with another mutual friend too.
The best part is hearing all the changes in our lives over the past 25 years. Each of us married, had children, two of us have grandbabies, and all of us have moved in completely different directions. Our lives have been spent doing the things we love and yet, in all three cases, our lives have led to different careers, different activities and family choices.
The funniest part is that each of us is drawn back to “the pines” in Tennessee. Each of us looks ahead, wondering if we can’t get together for a reunion in “the pines” of Tennessee.
At camp a few nights back, we met in the pines of eastern Colorado, and I listened as the pines blew in the winds. The whispering pines sounded like a river rushing through the trees. I sat back on a rock and listened as the sounds changed with the differing winds, the rushing river sounds echoing against the canyon on the other side, and birds chirping in the distance.
I could hear Loretta singing in the distance. I’m sure someone playing a CD, but the memories came back strong, and the words to the song echoed along…
“In the pines… in the pines… where the sun never shines… and you shiver when the cold wind blows…”
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