Down in the Valley

Down in the valley, valley so low,
Hang your head over, hear the wind blow.
             Hear the wind blow, love, hear the wind blow,
             Hang your head over, hear the wind blow.

If you don't love me, love whom you please,
But throw your arms round me, give my heart ease.
             Give my heart ease, dear, give my heart ease,
             Throw your arms round me, give my heart ease.

Down in the valley, walking between,
Telling our stories, here's what it sings:
             Here's what it sings, dear, here's what it sings,
             Telling our story, here's what it sings.

Roses of sunshine, vi'lets of dew;
Angels in heaven know I love you,
             Know I love you, dear, know I love you,
             Angels in heaven know I love you.

Build me a castle forty feet high,
So I can see her as she goes by,
            As she goes by, dear, as she goes by,
             So I can see her as she goes by.

Bird in a cage, love, bird in a cage,
Dying for freedom, ever a slave,
             Ever a slave, dear, ever a slave,
             Dying for freedom, ever a slave.

Write me a letter, send it by mail,
Send it in care of the Birmingham jail.
             Birmingham jail, love, Birmingham jail,
             Send it in care of the Birmingham jail.

-Anonymous

Does anyone remember an old TV show called Christy from the mid 90's? Kellie Martin played Christy, a fancy city girl who moves to a remote Appalachian village in Tennessee to be a teacher in the early 1900's. The village, Cutter Gap, is one of deep poverty, and the locals are near totally uneducated. The story focuses on her adjustments to living in this wild place: how the locals learned from her, their shiny-beautiful new teacher, and how she learned from them, in turn, about life and love and brutal suffering. Subjects which she had been too young and privileged to understand before.

It was highly dramatic and silly but, at 13 years old, I adored it. It was based on a book I read probably 20 times that year. In my eyes, what it was really about was moving away from home and doing something scary and adventurous, no matter what that thing was. To me, that was what being a brand new grown up meant. By April-ish definition, the plot lines of a well-lived life meant you finished college, collected your diploma, and immediately did something terrifying and bold. Otherwise growing up just didn't count. School was just a pole vault for the moment of departure into the bright world.

Christy found her adventure by moving to a village of toothless miners in the hills of Tennessee and teaching them how to read, and other basic things like that using soap is helpful, and to brush their teeth. As for me, I had no idea what my adventure would look like. I just wanted to be similarly big and bold and unafraid when I grew up. I loved that cheesy book in the way that only a little girl of a bookish disposition would - aggressively, obsessively. Dreamy-like. (Ms. Kristen Weber if you are reading this I KNOW you know what I am saying here!)

The book opened with the lines of this old folk song, and somehow they always stayed with me. To me, these words exemplify deep loneliness, what it feels like to stand outside alone on a stark, blustery day and look out at a winter-blue sky.