I hadn't been to church or seen my grandparents since December, so a trip to
Lincolnton was the right thing to do Sunday. Sister Anna and I loaded up in the 99 Chevrolet S-10 4x4 and headed west to First United Methodist Church. The church was built in 1903 and is a beautiful example of revival architecture. Well, at least I'm told it's revival architecture. I don't really know what the proper term is, but I think that's right.
I went upstairs to the balcony to take some pictures during the service and I got some weird looks. Maybe it's just because I'm used to sticking out with a large television camera on my shoulder in situations where it seems a bit invasive, but it all felt normal to me. At least I turned off the flash. I just wanted to get a few shots of Paw Paw(southern for grandfather.) He doesn't preach very often anymore, but he still helps lead every service. Typically a prayer or some sort of reading.
Being a Lincoln County native Paw Paw has a southern accent. When he preaches or prays, his accent changes into a lighter southern with a good bit of Scottish mixed in. It's weird yet powerful at the same time. Sometimes during a prayer or blessing the pitch of his voice gets a little higher and almost aches a little. Not the ache like he's in pain, but that ache like
Bono when he sings the Martin Luther King line then blasts into the chorus of
Pride. I try to make it up there any time he preaches. It's sad, but I can probably count the number of times he'll preach again on both of my hands. With his age he finds himself losing his place when he preaches. That really upsets him so he only fills in when the senior pastor is out of town.
After church we went to the Lincoln House for lunch. It's odd a place like the Lincoln House that features southern home cooking offers healthy items like whole wheat waffles, egg whites and turkey bacon. That's what I always get and it's always good. We ran into a man named Joe
Kiser who was once the Lincoln County sheriff and now represents the 97
th district in the North Carolina General Assembly. He's known my grandparents for years so he stopped by the table and chatted for a while. We talked about former speaker Jim Black heading to jail. Even
Kiser, the republican, said he didn't think Black would actually do something like that. Once he left, Mimi(my grandmother) said that was the one republican she liked. She then informed me that she'd likely vote for Hilary Clinton next year. That's right, a 79 year old preacher's wife from North Carolina is voting for Hilary. I should go to
Lincolnton more often.
I went upstairs to the balcony to take some pictures during the service and I got some weird looks. Maybe it's just because I'm used to sticking out with a large television camera on my shoulder in situations where it seems a bit invasive, but it all felt normal to me. At least I turned off the flash. I just wanted to get a few shots of Paw Paw(southern for grandfather.) He doesn't preach very often anymore, but he still helps lead every service. Typically a prayer or some sort of reading.
Being a Lincoln County native Paw Paw has a southern accent. When he preaches or prays, his accent changes into a lighter southern with a good bit of Scottish mixed in. It's weird yet powerful at the same time. Sometimes during a prayer or blessing the pitch of his voice gets a little higher and almost aches a little. Not the ache like he's in pain, but that ache like Bono when he sings the Martin Luther King line then blasts into the chorus of Pride. I try to make it up there any time he preaches. It's sad, but I can probably count the number of times he'll preach again on both of my hands. With his age he finds himself losing his place when he preaches. That really upsets him so he only fills in when the senior pastor is out of town.
After church we went to the Lincoln House for lunch. It's odd a place like the Lincoln House that features southern home cooking offers healthy items like whole wheat waffles, egg whites and turkey bacon. That's what I always get and it's always good. We ran into a man named Joe Kiser who was once the Lincoln County sheriff and now represents the 97th district in the North Carolina General Assembly. He's known my grandparents for years so he stopped by the table and chatted for a while. We talked about former speaker Jim Black heading to jail. Even Kiser, the republican, said he didn't think Black would actually do something like that. Once he left, Mimi(my grandmother) said that was the one republican she liked. She then informed me that she'd likely vote for Hilary Clinton next year. That's right, a 79 year old preacher's wife from North Carolina is voting for Hilary. I should go to Lincolnton more often.
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