Rescue in a Kentucky Supermarket

The Tweetsie of the title Runaway Tweetsie refers to a narrow gauge train which hauled passengers and freight between Johnson City, Tennessee, and Boone, North Carolina, making stops at numerous small mountain communities along the way. Tweetsie was not just a mode of transportation within an area called "The Lost Provinces" into the 1920s, it was an institution, a friend, the sound of a sassy whistle, the wave of friendly engineer, and the excitement of the day in mountain communities. Tweetsie's history dates back to 1866 when the Tennessee legislature granted permission for the construction of a railroad to the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad Company. It began hauling passengers and freight in 1886 and operated until 1950. The outstanding achievement of Runaway Tweetsie is the illustrations by Carl Cordini. His Reggie is a bird in flight in all moods. His train moves and the puffs of smoke waft to the mountain skies. The illustrations are charming. (Cordini is a stained glass artist as well as an illustrator of children's books). An added plus is the Runaway Tweetsie Coloring Book with Cordini s illustrations left plain to invite a child's creativity, allow him or her participation in the creative process of coloring mountains , trees, trains, and even turning a red bird into a canary if the child has a notion! Another charming touch and, indeed, a touch of authenticity at the end of Runaway Tweetsie is a map of the original route of Tweetsie with each little mountain community in North Carolina and Tennessee clearly designated. Single, or together, these two books are stocking stuffers to light up eyes for Christmas. The books can be bought or ordered through local book stores or ordered directly from the company: New River Publishing Company, PO Box 2466, Blowing Rock, North Carolina 28605. Runaway Tweetsie is $5.95 plus $1.00 shipping and handling charges. The Runaway Tweetsie Coloring Book is $2.50 plus $.75 shipping and handling charges. Rescue in a Kentucky Supermarket Dashed in to Food World only to buy bread. As ever, not a dime to spare After scrawling checks, too thinly spread, For wasted whale and bludgeoned bear. Suddenly I spied them, ready to expire. "Three for five dollars," read the sign Over plastic pots so cramped and dire, Choked, strangling roots, one knew, were in decline. Tried to gumshoe down the aisle But turned. Just could not leave them there. They might .... perhaps . . . live just a little while If given larger pots and loving care. For months now they have bloomed on my sill, Assuaging hunger that no bread could fill. -Tessa Nelson-Humphries 67 ...