This Side of the Mountain

This Side of the Mountain Sidney Saylor Farr In Appalachia there is a deep belief in angels, especially in guardian angels. I grew up hearing the adults talk about God and the angels. When my mother was young her sister Viney died at the age of twelve. Mother said she had been sick for years from something like rheumatic fever (no medical help was available that far back in the mountains). One afternoon Viney told her mother she had seen two angels flying over their barn. "I guess they've come for me," she said. Thatnight Viney died. Mother often spoke about her; she believed implicitly that Viney had seenthe angels. There were many stories and anecdotes about angels as well as superstitions told by other relatives from time to time. Down through the years I wished many times that there were guardian angels for places as well as for people. If there were place angels surely they grieved for the stripping of our land of its timber and coal, as well as other resources. Surely they witnessed the devastating floods and forest fires. Another question arises: Is there an angel for Black Mountain? (Jerrico Mines has received permission to strip the top of Black Mountain, the tallest mountain in Kentucky.) In the summer issue of Appalachian Heritage, I wrote about traveling the land of stroke beginning June 1, and my belief that guardian angels intervened on my behalf. The truth of the matter is that already I had experienced what I chose to believe was contact with a guardian angel. For the fourth year this past spring, a group of us gathered for a weekend at Virginia Beach. This group comes from several states and some have even come from Canada. We have all met and had some experience with a Rochester, New York, man named Tom Sawyer. My "experience" with him has been writing two books about his neardeath experience and his teachings. I joined the group on May 7. Each year we look forward to going out in a U.S. Forest Service boat to watch for dolphins. It was a thrill when we saw them, and especially when they came near the boat and seemed to play games with us. This weekend the weather was rough with winds, thunder, lightning, and intermittent cold rain. On Friday it stormed and we could not go out in the evening as planned but we were able to reserve the boat for Saturday morning. The next morning it was cloudy with a cold wind. The ocean was dull green; we wondered if the dolphins could be seen very well. On the drive to the boat dock, I "heard" a voice saying, "Sidney, something is going to happen in the boat that will change the rest of your life." Over the years Tom Sawyer and I have developed a telepathic link and I thought it was him sending me a message. (Later, he said it was not him.) On the boat, I sat on the bench around the cabin, but most of the group stood on the prow. I have been handicapped for several years and have to be careful walking with a cane. It is hard not to be able to walk strong and confident as I once did. After a while I wanted to stand at the front rail with the others. I decided I would do it! I gripped my cane and fumbled my way to the bridge. The boat was rhythmic in its swaying and I quickly attuned myself to the rhythm. I was thrilled to be standing there holding on to the rail with my left hand while holding the cane securely with my other hand. I stood there about twenty minutes, in all, then I saw Tom Sawyer coming toward me across the boat. Later Tom said when he realized how dangerous it was for me to be standing like that he was coming to insist that I sit down. Suddenly the wind seemed to change because there came a "stutter" in the rhythm. At that instant my cane flew out of my hand and I started to fall toward my left. I remember thinking...