Meeting "Erin Walton"

Growing up as a child in the seventies and teen in the eighties some of my favorite shows were Gilligan’s Island, Little House on the Prairie, Good Times, Magnum P.I., Growing Pains, Dallas, and The Waltons.  What can I say, I have an eclectic taste when it comes to entertainment.

Last night, Ren and I took a couple friends and headed to a church in Warren County, Kentucky to hear Mary McDonough speak about her new book Lessons from the Mountain: What I learned from Erin Walton. I am well on my way into reading the book and so far, so good.

It was a very pleasurable evening and it was fun to listen to Ms. McDonough give a lot of behind the scenes details on what it was like to work on one of my favorite shows as a child.  Ren, who has dreamed since she was four or five to one day be an actress, really soaked in this part of the evening, too, even though she has only seen part of an episode or two of the show (she being much more a LHOTP fan).  I think she was more enamored by the fact she was able to meet a celebrity.  

 

Ren with her signed book.

   

Describing what it was like growing up Walton.

 Mary with some of her fans.  This one woman brought her husband and three daughters and EACH of them had their own copy of the book.  Now that's a fan!  The girl seated in the blue dress to the left is Ms. McDonough's daughter, who is the spitting image of her mom.

  

Ren watching as her book was signed.

 Ren was thrilled..."She ripped my book.  That's so cool!"

So sorry Ren, My Bad!! Mary McDonough "Erin"

So, given last night’s fun, let me list here a few of my favorites connected to the show.

1.

My two favorite episodes were “The Burnout” (which Mary said last night was her  favorite episode to film) and “The Ghost Story” (you know me, I love anything scary).

2.

My favorite characters on the show were the grandparents.  

3.

I love the performance Ellen Corby gave on an episode of The Andy Griffith Show entitled “Barney’s First Car”...totally opposite from her role as Grandma Esther Walton.

4.

My favorite of the Walton children was Jason.

5.

With only one sister myself, I always thought it would be great to grow up with a bunch of brothers and sisters.  My mother and father would probably disagree.

6.

John Walton always reminds me of my own father just a little when he is shown sitting at the Walton kitchen table in a work shirt and wearing his glasses while figuring out a lumber project.  I have seen Daddy do this many times at our kitchen table when working up a bid for some construction project.

7.

The real Walton’s Mountain is a little place called Schuyler, Virginia (pronounced “Skyler”) and was the childhood home to the show’s writer and narrator Earl Hamner, Jr.  John, Ren, and I took a little side trip there in 2003 on the way home from D.C.

 

 Ren and I with "Erin"

Nightlights

One of my favorite sights in the whole wide world on a warm summer night is a field full of fireflies, or as we Southerners call them, lightning bugs. Of course, I suppose it’s possible that people in other parts of the country call them that too. Do they? Am I regionally profiling by thinking of “lightning bugs” as a Southern word? If so, my apologies. Well, unfortunately, whatever the name, it has been a bad year for them around here.

As we live on a farm there is no shortage of tall grass in which they could exist. Last year, it seemed we were treated to a light show each and every evening we turned in the drive after dark. The fields surrounding our house were full of them. Sometimes there were so many you just knew Disney was behind the production. You know, like nature's rendition of Fantasmic.

Sadly, we have been without many of our little friends for much of this summer. I wonder if the weather has had something to do with it. It has been sooo very hot this year. I guess the little things figure we don’t need any more heat generated and so their fannies remain off.

When Ren was a baby I was given a cassette of sweet little bedtime lullabies. Each song was precious but one about some little lightning bugs became my favorite right away and was the one I always sang to her. Over the years I have thought about that little song many times, trying, in vain, to remember its exact lyrics. When John-Heath was a baby I was disappointed that I could not sing it to him as I had done for Renny.

I had searched off and on the past few years for this lullaby about fireflies. I only knew a few of the words, and as it turns out I had remembered them wrong. So I was searching for non-existent lyrics. Luckily, one night not long ago I finally stumbled upon it. I quickly downloaded it and intend on ordering the CD as soon as possible.

So for the time being, in lieu of rocking babies or watching light shows, I’ll just have to listen here to a little song saved on my computer and think of one baby girl and thousands of tiny nightlights.

Look at their lights flashing off an on

Hovering over the backyard lawn.

Playing the games little fireflies play.

I wonder where they've been hiding all day.

Little nightlights - merrily making their night flights.

Shining like diamonds outside your window.

Where do they go in the sunshine?

Little nightlights.

Baby, you shine like a diamond too.

Nobody lights up my world like you.

There on your pillow your little face glows.

Do you know that you remind me of those?

Little nightlights - merrily making their night flights.

Shining like diamonds outside your window.

Where do they go in the sunshine?

Little nightlights.

By the way, a firefly's light is cold, not hot. Therefore, my theory on their disappearance needs some work.