Mmm...About New Years...

Well while I'm on well wishes, let me wish you all, no matter who you are or where you are...Gone are the days I got hits from Jordan and Saudi Arabia looking for intelligence...A Happy New Year.

Yes, that magical time of the year when your Christmas toys are still new and people go crazy over some ball sliding down a pole. It's also the time the Cops set up check points. So, in fine Military Tradition, let m say..."Don't get caught". It's really a dumb thing to do anyway. I've got this theory, that people that get absolutely stinking on New Years do so out of a lack of fulfillment in their existence. They numb themselves for another year of mediocrity...Or they're either hell raisers or hell raisers wannabes. The truth is, I've known all three. I wish them a Happy New Years too.

This year is pretty much done. We can't take it back. It's over. Not that it was all that bad. it had it's moments. We'll understand it better a couple of years down the road. We might understand ourselves a little better. We might know something we didn't know before. Life is what you make out of it. So, when life happens, make something out of it. Does that make sense?

Two years ago I was in a rotten stink hole, to put it mildly. Almost every day something reminds me, though I don't spend much time thinking about it. A few things the last couple of days has reminded me a little more...When I've not been up on a Mountain listening to some Dogs down below me. Iraq could have some beautiful sky's.

If any of us are going to make something out of this New Year, we best get to it.

The Appalachianist

Merry Christmas 08

Were All in Love - New York Dolls

Once upon a time in a far, far away place, where no one gets along anymore, was a this man named Jesus. Jesus bucked the system so to speak. He talked about forgiving, not casting stones, and doing the right thing. Some people didn't know about him, others thought he was on to something. Jesus didn't tell people what they wanted to hear. He Loved everyone though.
Merry Christmas.

The Appalachianist

It's Not Pretty And It's Sad

Deer Season didn't end on a pretty note here. The last day was pretty enough, but terribly cold to start. The last day ended in someone dead and that hanging over someone's head. I, myself, ended it sitting on the Pisgah and Nantahala Forest Boundary. Plumb across the County at a place called Turkey Pen on the Transylvania and Henderson County line a "Mexican" fellar went looking for Galax and was mistaken for a Deer. The shot killed him.
Galax is used in some ornamentations, collecting it can bring some money. Collecting wild plants and selling them is known as "Wildcrafting". These "Mexicans" that's come into this country have taken up Wildcrafting. I've heard of them cleaning ginseng out of places, not leaving any behind. It's just another of the things going on here. Now, Galax grows well under big mature Laurel and Ivey, moist, shady (not shaded out) ground. Which can be good places for deer to bed down. The man wasn't wearing orange, I don't know what he was wearing. But, once I read the story, one thing I did know, he was looking for galax. That's the most logical thing for him to be doing in "thick brush". Being the last day of Deer Season in Transylvania and Henderson Counties, it's legal to shoot a doe. So, pretty much if it's a Deer, you can shoot it. Someone took a chance, and it turned out to be a bad one. No one but those that were there and "The Law" knows what actually happened.
Chances are Luciano Martinez had a vague understanding of National Forest being Game Lands and Hunting was taken place there. He'd be alive today if he wore bright colored clothing or just plain hunter orange. Or, he'd be alive if someone had not taken a chance, and had a clearer understanding of what they were shooting. According to the news article, others thought it was a Deer. With what appeared to be a Deer, a chance was taken on a "killing shot". A chance that ought not have been taken. One that can't be taken back. That is all that is certain. I'm not pointing fingers. Ignorance speaks in a judgmental voice.

What is amazing anymore is the people (folks they are not)that we encounter with no idea that Hunting exists in Southern Appalachia. They don't know the difference between National Forest and National Park. One of my hunting partners encountered a couple walking through the woods, the Lady wore a coat the same color of a Deer's hide. He explained it was Hunting Season and gave her his orange. "You mean you can hunt here?", they say as if they have discovered a northwest passage. Most, innocently enough, wish you well or tell you of a dog they seen up the way and ask curious questions. Others, make little comments disapproving of you and what you do. After all, they are more civilized, educated and are certainly far more moral than though!

As years go by, I hear it from my fellow Hunters more. They wish hikers and bicyclers wore orange. Most hunters don't see the rules as being fairly applied. "We get a ticket for not wearing it and they don't. They're in just as much danger." Not that they wouldn't mistake them for an animal, but that they know when they're around! You take on a responsibility when you take a gun into the woods. The state requires that you take a Hunters Safety Course in order to get a license. They can't teach you experience and judgment. They can't teach anyone courtesy either.

The Appalachianist

Vibrations

Folks, I've got things going on. I'm not putting out the post I wanted to this week.

Remember the silly I did, oh, a year or so ago with Videos. Well, I don't intend for this to be it.

The Whigs, Like A Vibration


The Appalachianist

Blogland

The economy is bad. It turns out we've been in a recession since December 2007. Can you imagine that? It's 1981 all over again and that was bad...Gloom and Doom. Folks are going to have to buckle down and get tough. But back then, 1981, we had places that made things. We don't have as much of that anymore. But, 1981 wasn't all that bad for some. Moral of the story...Uh, uhm, linking I mean...You can always find a reason to grin. Sometimes those reasons are people. And, people are alive, if not dead, and life happens as few know destiny. And destiny lies for us in many places, way up in the High Lonesome with a cowardice of curs or our passions for the loves we know. Sometimes those loves are places, sometimes works, sometimes hearts. Our minds takes us where we want to go with courage, determination, and the love for life.

Nuff of that...
The Appalachianist