Tourist Alert

Out on the Rosman Highway is a bill board that reads "Tourist Alert Level Orange". I'm not sure what that means. It's not red this year, that's for sure. Maybe it's me, but it doesn't seem as "crowded" this year. The out of state tags trickled in, not showing up until later than usual.

Tha Appalachianist...Spreading Appalachiaism like a plague...

Whish I could write

I want to write. I've wanted to write and every time I want to read a blog, I get distracted. I've been following the deal with Gen. McChrystal, in a way, since I once knew him, it's been personal. And, for many reasons I have to laugh.

I wanted to write last week. The 17th was the anniversary of Bunker Hill, where the British paid a heavy price for a field and realized they were in for a long fight to bring the Colonies in line.

A fellar down in Cleveland County seen Big Foot. That's not the first time it's been spotted there, there was a rash of evidence back in the late 70's.

I'm also writing more NCOERs than I need to be writing.
The Appalachianist

Ant Poison

Let me tell you about my ants. There's millions of them. They're mean, hungry and as persistent in annoying you as the day is long. Some have claimed them "Allegheny Ants", I don't know what they are called, I'd like to call them dead. These ants don't belong here. They don't show up just any where in the county. The only other place I ever seen them is in Washington State. There they build hills head high. Here, they build in much of the same fashion, but never get as high as your ankle. They make paths across the ground, but not as organized as the ones did in Panama. My theory is that some one unwittingly brought them back from the North West visiting home. As, I've told you long time readers before, allot of people here have relatives out there, including myself. They went out there to cut timber and only came home to visit. And, as I think, someone brought those ants here.

The winters here are harder than out there, at least on the west side of the Sierras. So, they can't build like they do out there. But they will take over what ever they can; including my house. Every year I see them crawling around and then in days their little crumped bodies on the floor. I've already put out an entire bag of "Bug Be Gone" and they're back. Maybe because it was dry when I put it out and I didn't spray enough. I hit them with different things. They were slower to come this year, and are proving harder to kill. For a few days they weren't showing up like before. I killed the ones in the yard, but not in the woods.

Hard rains seem to slow them down. But, that's all it does. This week I'll throw out another bag of ant killer and see what happens.

The Appalachianist

8,000 Acres

I don't have a link to it. A man named Charles Taylor, one of the biggest land owners in Transylvania County, owns 8,000 acres of land on the head of the East Fork of the French Broad. He's wanting to give it up. Wants to hand it over to the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy. It is the largest tract of Private Forest Land in the county.

The East Fork flows west and enters the French Broad just below Rosman. For the most part a road follows it along. It's pretty and would be prettier it it wasn't for all of the No Trespassing signs. A good part of those signs belong to that land.

Charles Taylor was the 11th Congressional District Representative for quite some years. He's a Republican and got voted out of Office in 2006. The green crowd hated him. They called him "Chainsaw Charlie". Ask them why and they will give you a blathering of how he is a despicable person. He has a reputation of a slum lord. He has had plenty of accusations of being hateful. Some would say he is evil.

Despite all of that, he owned 8,000 acres of some beautiful land. He did not hire loggers to cut every twig and never had it developed, despite the gated community of Connastee being near by. At one time, he could have made a mint off of it, and he did not.

I offer no defenses as to what people say about him. While he is asking a price, it's valued at 33 Million according to the story on WLOS, he's not selling it in parcels at twice that.

As to what comes of the land, will it be a suburbanite bicycle mecca like DuPont or a highly restricted park like Gorges State Park (Auger Holes to us locals)? Or, will it be a place where you can go see the wilds, a Hunter can hunt, and the land can be land, and not a pawn in the Culture War of Appalachia?

The Appalachianist