Down Home

I went on a pilgrimage to Southern Ohio last weekend. My grandparent's house on S. 10th street in Ironton has been torn down since I was last there. In place of the mint green and chocolate brown post-war bungalow is a parking lot. The unchanged view of the hills from their former backyard did console me.



View from my grandparents' former home.

I visited my grandparents in their retirement community in Portsmouth. My93-year-old grandfather complained about the lack of decent chess and checkers. He also told me stories about the rooster his family had when he was growing up and about how my grandparents got married when he was on leave in the Navy. My grandmother followed him up and down the west coast via train when they were newlyweds so they could be together while he finished his enlistment.



Charles E. Morrison, Navy photo


I also went hiking at Lake Vesuvius in the Wayne National Forest. I stayed a a great little bed and breakfast right on the Ohio River: , Riverview Inn in Franklin Furnace.



Lake Vesuvius, Wayne National Forest, Ironton Reservation