LilyPad drove us over the Natchez Trace Parkway for a second time as we made our way to Red Bay, Alabama. First section of the Trace was smooth although very narrow. Second was still narrow but full of Alaska…ruts, frost heaves and dips. Nothing along the way to stop and see so we drove straight through to Canton. The Trace was built on the path traveled by the Natchez Indians before they were run out of the area by the French but if they used the area for hunting, you couldn’t tell by today’s forested roadway. Farming fields, cows and goats were the only animals and wild things seen were black birds and vultures. Our stop for the night was Movietown RV Park in Canton, Mississippi. A blessedly uneventful night of serene sleep.
Up in the morning and drive to arrive at our fix-it, build-it, install-it, adjust-it-and-wait- along-with-120-other-Tiffin’s, Allegro Campground destination. They do have WiFi so I will, at least, be keeping up with family/friends through emails and continue our web page.
Arctic but sunny here in Red Bay. Our first night the temps dropped to a frigid 7 degrees but full hook-ups come with the campground for a price, albeit reasonable . Side trips are sure to involve bundling up before stepping outside for the next few days. Unless it is of extreme interest to either of us, we will be remaining snugly inside Ribbit if we risk being on the road.
Restaurants come and go in Red Bay, the Tiffin town, and the office informed us that our favorite diner had closed again, this time permanently. Their ribs rivaled those of McKenzie’s Bar-B-Q in Conroe but when hard times depress the rest of the country, they devastate this small company town.
After several days inside, cabin fever snuck up and began suffocating me. Being unable to put out either of our large slides due to the icy weather, excessive togetherness resulted in a desperate plea for escape from our box on wheels and we drove to Tuscumbia, AL to tour Ivy Green, the birthplace of Helen Keller.
The home was built on a 640 acre parcel of land in1820 by David and Mary Fairfax Moore Keller, the parents of Helen’s father. The birthplace cottage is east of the main house. During the war, the house was used as a hospital. Born on June 27, 1880 in the cottage, Helen moved into the house with her parents and at 19 months old, an illness left her blind and deaf.
Her mother, the second wife of Arthur Henley Keller, was a descendant of the Adams family of New England and her ties with the wealthy New England families was what may have saved Helens life. It was Kate Adams Keller, Helens mother, who sought help from her family for her unruly, blind, deaf and uneducated seven year old. Kate’s family doctor told her, you don’t need more opinions from doctors; you need an educator for Helen. That is when educator Anne Mansfield Sullivan came to live with the Keller’s and her birth cottage was turned into her school.
The pump where she learned her first word, “water”, still stands behind the main house.
Anne lived with Helen and stayed by her side until her own eyesight made it impossible for her to guide Helen further. Helen Adams Keller, Americas first lady of courage, was an American author, political activist, world renown lecturer and the first deaf/blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts Degree. She graduated from Radcliffe College in 1904, magna cum laude, with Anne by her side. She met every U.S. president from Grover Cleveland to Lyndon Johnson and was actively identified with The American Foundation for the blind from 1924 until her death in1968.
I was impressed with her accomplishments but it quickly turned into overwhelming awe when I watched her speech, given at the Lions Club International Convention in 1925, asking that they “render impartial assistance to all classes of the blind”. This was an amazing, determined, spirited, highly intelligent woman. It is a mystery to me why, as a teen, I was not awe struck by this incredible human being while she was still living. Guess it is true; that the teenage fairy sucks out your brain until you cross over into adulthood.