In the silence I hear my heart beating, time slippin' away

Long ago and far away, we often would spend weekend afternoons at my grandparents farm. Usually just talking, but sometimes working in the garden, picking apples for applesauce, or collecting eggs from the chicken coop.

There was never any rushing around or watching television. And obviously, no checking e-mail or talking on the cell phone. In fact, their phone (two longs and a short party line) very rarely rang and that was a good thing as a ringing phone too often mean unwelcome news.

They didn’t have much, and they didn’t need much.

Buddy and Julle Miller have evocatively captured simpler times, and I especially love the photo collage that accompanies the song. And although the images look a bit older than my memories, it’s almost like peering into the photo albums that my grandmother kept on top on the piano, right next to the Bible.

This song is called Ellis County, named after the area in Texas where Julie Miller’s family comes from.

But it could easily be Johnston County, N.C., or Franklin County, Mass.

Or Lycoming County, Pa.