Windsor's Crossroads is a long way from a stoplight, but not too far from a four-lane. It's the kind of place where the four corners of life are work, family, church and the old, white schoolhouse, not necessarily in that order.

The tallest building around, short of a silo, the wood frame schoolhouse and its belfry have dominated the landscape in the Yadkin County community since about 1915. These days, it lives on as the community center, and most of its visitors are long past school age.

On Friday evenings, just before sunset, young and old gather to play music and just sit for a spell, catching up on the doings of generations of family and friends.

An Amish boy bounces by on a tractor, heading home from a long day in the fields. Pickup trucks crawl into the gravel parking lots, greetings are yelled and waved, and the occasional instrument case is pulled out.

Guitars are unpacked. Requests are made. Fingers fly. Voices twang. Children dance.

The twang of a song mingles with the eternal country question of "How's your mama?"

Age-old secrets of the banjo, guitar and stand-up bass are passed up and down.

As the orange glow of sunset fills the sky, the notes of a gospel song compete with the crickets, and life gets a little slower a long way from the stoplight.