Bill and Shirley McEwen

  Bratton Lane is lined with trees that form a lush green tunnel over the road.  The smells are of verdant fields, mown hay, and a pungent tinge of skunk.  I loved it!  As I rode up up the driveway, Bill came out and he looked exactly as remembered him, but older somehow.  And with a shaved head.  How had that happened?  But the same voice with the strong Tennessee patois by which I have always known him.  He was joined by his wife, Shirley, and a finer pair of people you would have a hard time finding anywhere in Tennessee.  Bill and I started catching up right away, and Shirley patiently listened to us for awhile, then slipped away to prepare dinner.  I could write for pages about the things of which we spoke, but won't.  Bill has made a DVD of slides from his time in Viet Nam, which he has narrated.  We started watching it before dinner, and paused it from time to time to discuss the details of what the scenes depicted.  It was like being there again.

  Shirley's dinner was perfect - baked halibut with herbs, served with a very nice spicy pesto sauce (I need that recipe, Shirley), steamed broccoli with lemon zest, boiled and barely smashed red potatoes, and key lime pie for dessert.  We had great conversation over dinner.  These are kind people, gracious hosts, fine folks you just want to get to know better.  They live on part of the old family farm, with Bill's brother Jim (who is married to Nancy, Shirley's best friend) living on the portion that has the old home place on it (the house was built in 1862, and is lovely.  There are pages to be written about that, too).  Bill and Shirley have a Bed & Breakfast, too, and the guests stay in a cabin Bill built from logs re-purposed from old cabins.  Bill dated the yellow poplar logs from 1810 - 1820, and they are massive.  The cabin is phenomenal, and I thoroughly enjoyed my stay there.

  After dinner, Bill and I chatted away until fairly late for old men, 10:30 or so.  Mostly we talked about Viet Nam, and the siege at Khe Sanh.  Bill did two tours there, and I did one.  You learn things about yourself, and about life, in a place like that.  One thing you take away, no matter how you say it or express it, is that you have absolutely no control over your life, so live right now.  It may be all you ever have.

  In the morning, we had coffee and sweet cake, then Bill took me over to meet Jim and Nancy, and see the place where he grew up.  History in Tennessee, it seems, is always right there.  Structures built in 1862 aren't seen much in Alaska.

  Too soon, I had to leave.  I was headed on a short ride to Birmingham, Alabama, to visit my old friends and shirt tail relatives, Mike and Kay Kellum, their children, and the cutest grandchildren in Birmingham, Alabama.  Seriously, the cutest.  Although the distance was short, the weather took a hand, and time stretched out.