For my last two columns in this series I thought we would take a look at our home from my perspective and perhaps give you a few things to think about. I preface this discussion with the fact that I love Appalachia and over the years I have given my…
Hi, Folks! Well, it’s the first day of Spring. With this day comes a new outlook for the coming year. A lot of planning offers encouragement and expectations for the growing season upon us. Seeds are planted. Hard work and sweat will sacrifice themselves in hopes of a bountiful harvest.…
(Author’s Note) : This article is written in honor of all those Grandparents who didn’t get to have as close a relationship with their Grandchildren as they would have liked. Also, for the Grandchildren who feel regrets that it is too late to know their Grandparent. As most of you…
I cannot remember ever being afraid of the river (here I mean the New River, in Grayson County, Virginia). In fact, fear of the river never entered my mind. Dad’s family had pioneered the river in the area of Pleasant Grove and Baywood and we spent many summer weekends in…
Hi, Folks! When most folks think of the words “Hand-Me-Downs” they think of second hand clothing & garments, usually passed down to younger sibling from an older one. The vast majority of Appalachian youth from my childhood grew up wearing hand me downs. Being the oldest sibling did not make…
The sun shone brightly over the hill as I kicked the toe of my worn out shoe against a clod of dried up dirt. I was eight years old and looking for something I could help with on our small farm. Since there were no boys on the farm, I…
Every year, usually during Spring turkey season, I set aside a day to climb Buck Mountain. I can easily drive up to the top but I make every effort to at least once during each spring to do it ‘on my hind legs’, and away from the road. It’s getting…
“I think that’s it!” I exclaimed in hope to my friend Von Anglin as we were almost to the top of a ridge near his home in the Price’s Creek community of Yancey County, North Carolina. “You think so?” Von replied in a tone wondering why I would think we…
If you are like some of us that are a little older, then you remember your parents talking about the one room school house or at least about the difficulties they had in reaching the school. The long walks that it took to reach school or the weather they had…
The first real tool I ever had personal control over, so much so that my parents dedicated one to me and me alone, was the garden hoe. Looking down what seemed like an endless row of green beans, happy sprouts that reached for the spring sun, I can even today…
