Blackberries in the Hill Country, June 6, 2010

by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

Yesterday while driving home from the Palmer Memorial Service at Lann Cemetery, I notice alongside Thornton Road that wild blackberries were getting ripe.

"Too early," I thought. "I need to ask an old-timer if June 6th is not very early for blackberries to be getting ripe."

Then it dawned on me that at almost 71 years of age, that I was one of the old-timers. So I answered, "Yes, it seems very early for ripe blackberries" giving myself just a little wiggle room which I've learned to do over the past seven decades.

"It is early for blackberries in the Hill Country."

But there they were as this photograph will attest.

And on another observation regarding seasons and ripening of fruit --- on Wednesday, June 2, Sweetie and I picked ripe huckleberries off the bushes along Thornton Road in Monroe County --- and as we ate them we both talked about "Isn't it early for huckleberries to be ripe?"

So now you know --- old folks talk about when native fruits ripen.

You young'uns have a lot to look forward to.

Lann Cemetery Road Part 1 --- A Through-the-Windshield Video

by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

The video below was made Sunday afternoon, May 16, 2010, on Thornton Road and Lann Cemetery Road, Monroe County, Mississippi. Click the start button to view.

The video starts on Thornton Road; at the junction of Thornton and Lann Cemetery Roads, a right turn takes us south on Lann Cemetery Road along the high ridge that runs west of the Splunge-Sipsey River Bottom. On the map below, place names, road and creek name are highlighted in red; the portion of Thornton Road and Lann Cemetery Roads shown on this video are highlighted in green.(Left click for a larger image)

Part 2 of this video follows and will show the area along Lann Cemetery Road past the "Splunge International Airport" and end at Lann Cemetery at the intersection with Brown-Taylor Road.

SOURCES:

Lann Cemetery Road, Part 1. Through-the-Windshield Video. Terry Thornton, Fulton, Mississippi. May 16, 2010.

Lann Cemetery Road Map modified from the Mississippi Department of Transportation Highway Map of Monroe County. For a complete map visit www.goMDOT.com

Thornton Road, Part 1 -- A Through-the-Windshield Video

by Terry Thornton
email: hillcountrymonroecounty@gmail.com

The video below was made Sunday afternoon, May 16, 2010, on Thornton Road, Monroe County, Mississippi. Yes, the road is named for me! Click the start buttons to view the video.

The portion of Thornton Road shown in Part 1 is from the intersection of Hatley-Detroit Road, through Thornton Farm, and ends about 1.2 miles down the road on the high ridge overlooking Weaver's Creek (named for my great-great-great-grandfather Frederick Weaver, one of the earliest settlers in Hill Country). See the map below for the location. Place names, road and creek name are highlighted in red; the portion of Thornton Road shown on this video is highlighted in green. (Left click map for a larger view)

Part 2 of this video follows and will show the descent into and the ascent out of Weaver's Creek Bottom.

SOURCES:

Thornton Road, Part 1. Through-the-Windshield Video. Terry Thornton, Fulton, Mississippi. May 16, 2010.

Thornton Road Map modified from the Mississippi Department of Transportation Highway Map of Monroe County. For a complete map visit www.goMDOT.com