Whistle Stop in Hopkinsville

If I had arrived at this intersection a moment earlier, I might have caught the locomotive as it went by the Whistle Stop -- but I missed it. That didn't stop me from trying to get a picture, though. I like the reflections on the wet pavement. And I remember how the train cars were rumbling by when I took the picture, even though it's hard to see them. 

The Whistle Stop has fabulous donuts and rolls. I only allow myself to stop there once in a very great while, but today, I got one of their cinnamon rolls. It was wonderful!

The New Old House

Hydrangeas on the north side of the house

Our daughter and son-in-law have recently bought a home. They were looking for an old house, and I am glad they finally found one. Their house has many of the things that they had hoped to find -- a brick exterior, high ceilings, a formal dining room, a pantry, beautiful woodwork, hardwood floors, several bathrooms, lots of space.

The house was built in 1933, when workmanship and materials were still good. A home inspector checked the entire building thoroughly. The wiring was fine; the plumbing had some leaks. But structurally, it was sound.

Keely and Taurus made a bold offer, far below the appraised value of the house, and  the seller accepted it. Completing the sale took a long time because the financing included a State of Kentucky first-time homeowner program. In late October, the last bit of red tape was finally cut, and Keely and Taurus got the keys to their house.

Vintage fan in the basement

Since then, they have been working in the house getting it ready to move in. One of the first items on the agenda was the plumbing.  Our son-in-law has worked hard on it day after day when he arrives home from work, and he has installed two commodes and several faucets and various pieces of plumbing connected to those fixtures.

Meanwhile, Keely removed the old wall-to-wall carpet, with the help of a friend. She has spent her evenings working very hard on the floors. She pulled up the nails and tacks left from the carpet and put down a fresh coat of shellac, and finally, a coat of paste wax. The hallway, which had a double layer of old carpet, has been a challenge. There, she is still scraping up the foam backing of the bottom layer of carpet.

Keely has also been fixing cracks in the plaster and getting the walls ready to paint. And she has painted the pantry shelves. I have been helping as much as I can with thorough cleaning. No heavy cleaning had been done in the house for a very long time, even before it sat empty for two years.

Old wallpapers in a closet corner

They will be moving in a few more days. It would be lovely to have enough time to paint every room in advance and solve every little problem, but that isn't possible. We are thankful for what we have accomplished  The rest will be done in its own good time. The house already looks 100 times better. It's a jewel, and it's beginning to shine.

Horse and Buggy in Hopkinsville

Homeward bound

I saw this horse-drawn buggy rolling through Hopkinsville on a recent Sunday evening. I think the passengers were probably headed home at the end of a full day of faith, fellowship, and family.

I believe this is genuinely a buggy. It fits the definition -- it's a lightweight, open-air, one-seat, one-horse, four-wheel vehicle.

The SMV triangle must have caught reflected light from the shiny awning of the building I was standing by. Reflections from that awning caused strange light effects in some other photos I tried to take, too.

Eclipse Puts Spotlight on Hopkinsville

Eclipse watchers in Paris, 1912.
(Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons)

It's so exciting! On August 21, 2017, the Great American Eclipse will occur, and the point of greatest eclipse (the place where the sun, the moon, and the earth are most perfectly aligned) will be just a few miles from Hopkinsville, Kentucky.

The eclipse is the main topic in our local news and talk. Apparently, a lot of people are coming to Hopkinsville -- thousands and thousands of people. Maybe 20,000, 50,000, or 100,000. Or more? Or maybe, not that many? No one knows! We're trying to be ready.

Hopkinsville has just finished building a new visitors' center. It's supposed to be open next week, just in time to serve the eclipse visitors. Road crews have been working on city streets and some of the highways coming into town. Improvements have been made to our little airport. Obviously, we're trying to make a good first impression. 

The Kentucky New Era published an editorial (July 30, 2017) about the importance of this event. The gist of it is that we'll have all those visitors in town, and we'll be in the spotlight of national news that day. We want and need to make a good impression, Our civic leaders are trying to plan, but Hopkinsville is unaccustomed to and under-equipped for big events. So, wherever plans fall short and needs develop, every local citizen should step in and help with a spirit of genuine southern hospitality.

The editorial offers the following suggestions in conclusion:

Our advice to cut down on your own obstacles is to simply be prepared. Mentally prepare yourself, but also stock up on what you need well in advance, including gassing up the vehicles. After you enjoy a day’s worth of activities at one of the events around the county, end it with a family dinner at home allowing greater opportunities for our out-of-town guests to sample the local food offerings.

Then, for those who simply can’t get their heads around this astronomical event, make sure you have plenty of reading material at the house or take a road trip beyond the eclipse path. But, be sure to leave early. 

Oh … and by the way, first impressions also include the astounding beauty of this community. Keep your curbside trash off the street, at least until after our guests leave.

It's ironic that any local residents who actually might need the condescending advice of the last paragraph are the ones who are least likely to read and heed it.

Related:
Eclipseville, Hopkinsville's official eclipse website, lists many eclipse events in the area
Camera atop Hopkinsville Elevator to stream eclipse (in case you can't attend in person)

The Eclipse Song performed by Barrenhart (video below) 

Hopkinsville, KY: Eclipseville

New mural in Hopkinsville celebrates
the August 21 eclipse

In case you haven't heard, North America will experience a total solar eclipse on Monday, August 21, 2017. And Hopkinsville, Kentucky, is the place where the eclipse will last the longest.

Our local officials tell us that visitors will be coming here from all over the world and around the nation -- scientists, sun-worshippers, and adventurers of all sorts. How many visitors? Estimates vary from 50,000 to 200,000.

Every law enforcement officer in the county will be working, with backup support from the Kentucky National Guard and Kentucky Emergency Management. Medical facilities will be staffed to the max. Stores and restaurants are bracing for big crowds and hoping for big profits. School will be dismissed for two days. Some non-essential workplaces will close for the day because of the heavy traffic that's expected.

Eclipseville mural

Months ago, I asked for a week off that included the eclipse, so I don't have to work. (My co-workers are not so fortunate.) My husband and I are planning to stay home until it's over. We have our eclipse glasses, and we can watch it from our own yard. I'm going to get my groceries a couple of weeks in advance while supplies are still good, and I'm going to keep my gas tank full.

• Hopkinsville, KY: Point of Greatest Eclipse
• NASA: Total Eclipse, 2017
• Total Solar Eclipse Over Kentucky

Edgar Cayce's Gravestone

RIP, Edgar Cayce

Edgar Cayce was from Hopkinsville, Kentucky, but I have never been interested in him. Or maybe I should say that I have never allowed myself to be interested in him. I know the basic facts of his life, but I've never studied him. I've always felt that dark powers gave him his knowledge and enabled him to do what he did.

I lived in Christian County for nearly 25 years before I ever happened to see Edgar's tombstone. I was at Riverside Cemetery in Hopkinsville for other reasons, when a friend mentioned that we were near the Edgar Cayce gravesite. I took this photo then, because I knew that I would never make a special trip to the cemetery to find his grave.

If you don't know the story of Edgar Cayce's life, check out his memorial on Find A Grave. It has a short biography.