David and Cecelia

I've been attending Lifeway Community Church in Sylva. Brent and I have visited several times in the past; so, I was already familiar with it. It is much like a Vineyard Church. Anyway, I went to a Monday night Bible study led by David and Ceceilia Burress. He shared a funny story about living in Polk County, Florida for about a year about 20 years ago. He got so fed up with it, and thought he was running back home to the mountains, but he realized he was going the wrong way when he saw signs for Miami. We laughed so much about this, as flatlanders have a difficult with directions in the hills. David says up here, people don't so much mind the north and south directions, but prefer "up river and down river." He is a welder and blacksmith. He GAVE me a push lawn mower to help with keeping up with the yard--another guy at the study fixed it up some, sharpened the blade, and delivered it to me! David and Cecelia invited us to come out to their house to participate in some blacksmithing. Another family was planning to be there and the stuff would be hot. Finding it was an adventure in itself--not far off the highway, but really deep ruts in the road and steep drop offs. David is very humble and quiet about his talents; but, he has quite a list of credentials from working on the Biltmore horse stables, the North Carolina State Fair, and the John C. Campbell Folk Art School. I considered it an honor to get to spend time with these locals who obviously love children and sharing their talents. Chloe got to hold the drum that David's great great grandpa beat in the Civil War! She also got to try on chainmail armor that their son made for a homeschooling show years ago. He helped both girls make a hook, which is a good first lesson in blacksmithing. In return for their lesson, they helped Cecelia shuck corn for her chickens. Chloe hopes that we get to return again for more corn shucking. We all enjoyed our visit and stayed much longer than we'd planned because it was just so relaxing and interesting.