I am very bias when it comes to the state of Tennessee.  I was born here, raised here, and have lived here all my life.  I have traveled the state from the small crevices in west Tennessee to the high mountains in east Tennessee.  Its beauty just surpasses anything I have ever seen!  The seasons provide even more diversity than the actual three divisions themselves.  Now know I have visited many places across the United States.  I have seen the northwest, the southwest, the northeast, the southeast, and the Midwest.  Even though I have enjoyed many places, especially San Diego and New York, I just find my Tennessee home is really special.  I like what we stand for, and I love where I have come from.  In my piece today, I try to share some of my reasons I love this place.

Many people just don’t understand the ethnicity of Tennessee.  The many immigrants that came to Tennessee are and were from many countries and cultures.  My family settled early in the founding of Tennessee.  Three of my four family sides are Irish.  The other one English.  We came in through the Ellis Island and the South Carolina routes, and we first settled in middle Tennessee.  But many families I know are from many other countries.  This diversity brought great variety in the cultures of our state.  All bringing great diversity in our music as well as our communities.  You can see my blood runs deep in this state.  I hope either if you live here or if you have or want to visit, some day you will appreciate my piece today.  I just had to share the great variety of everything that my state offers, especially with the change of the seasons upon us.  Enjoy our changes and our diversity if you are new here or if you have been here all your life!  And look me up to sit on the porch and visit, hum a tune, and sip some sweet tea!

Music of the Tennessee Land

The light rises along the muddy banks glistening on the clay.

The sound of the blues tunes glide through the air in the streets.

Sometimes the tune can be heard as far as the land between the lakes.

The mighty eagles and cranes along the waterways calmly sway to the tune.

As the mallards dance on the lake with their rhythm.

 

The white cotton covers the land like a snowfall.

It buffers the sound and carries high into the blue skies.

Just as the flat land changes into rolling hills, the tune shifts to a laid back country sound.

The toe tapping and the beat can be heard downtown coming from the Bluebird.

The Ryman and the Opry also add to the tone of the tune.

 

The hills and fields have cows and corn and soybeans laced throughout.

The squirrels, rabbits, and deer sway to the beat.

Then the tune makes its way toward the mountains.

The sound changes to a bluegrass twang.

The banjos and country violins ting and tang to the beat.

 

The trees thicken and the creeks run fast sending the tune further in.

The bears and the raccoons bounce to the beat.

The seasons change the tune of the song.

Fall, Spring, Summer, and Winter echo sounds of their own.

Up tunes, down tunes, high tunes, and low tunes all spread across the ground.

 

It does not matter where the beat takes me across the Tennessee land,

I am always welcomed as if I were at home.

Hospitality welcomes you anywhere.

Volunteering is just the natural thing we do.

Anyone’s porch is your porch for sitting and visiting.

 

Double names add an unusual tone to the way of life.

Family and food are the most precious lyrics of the song.

The football fields, the town squares, and the main streets serve as the community gathering places.

No one is a stranger as far as a Tennessean is concerned.

I find it easy to dance to the beat no matter where I am in the land of Tennessee!

Lori Rennae Hickman Chapman

I hope your home and place where you live has a special spot for you.  Look for all the wonders, diversity, and miracles that your spot holds!  You don’t know what you may be missing.  Isn’t it great having such different places to love on this Earth!  Thank you God for Your great plan in providing us beautiful visions, sounds, and taste of this Earth and your creation!  God bless you and your family where you call home!

Love,

Rennae

 

 

 

Blessings