This New Blogger

This new Blogger thing is weird. I don't know if I can get into this. The Blog ain't the same.  In an inside joke, I started calling myself the Appalachianist. Now, I'm Hill Billy Rave...The original name of the blog from another inside joke. Inside jokes catch up to you sooner or later. But, what would life be without them?And that old picture of me, the about me...Gone. So, I have to decide, am I going to do this or not? I made a great deal of friends through this. Great people, salt of the earth folks. But, blogging is an awkward affair.

There ain't no place I'd rather be than home right now. I miss the place. It won't be much longer. I intend for this to be the last trip to the desert. I've got allot of mixed feelings about the whole thing. Right now, I look forward to green grass and hearing the leaves rustle in the wind. I look forward to seeing little kids play and looking into the eyes of dogs. I long to hear the katydids.

It says that I have 15 followers. A good part of which I've never seen before. If that's you, thanks.

Time for another inside joke...
The Appalachianist.

I ain't done. I'm alive, well, kicking...Still in the land of sand...Still stuck like Chuck.

Let me give some quick credit...Scroll down to you see me complaining about it taking so long to get a log jam out of The French Broad. Last month they got it out. And here is your link to said happening. Sadly that date is corresponding with the passing of Levon Helm.



Blogger has changed a bit. Finally got it worked out. This thing was in jeopardy (your cue to start humming Greg Khen), something to do with legacy blog and my lack of attentativeness. Please forgive me, when the whole thing got started over a year ago, I was at Ft. Hunter Ligget CA, which is not known for great internet connectivity. Thankfully, I got a reminder in an e-mail, and have managed to get myself back in after my account wasn't recognized.

I still need to continue with my project of labeling, tagging my blog. Honestly, I've not had a great interest in this. And, I admit I've spent more time on FaceBook, and partly due to attractions. Blogger is a better way of relaying thoughts though. Other forms of Social Media are shallow. Blogger allows depth. And people put all kinds of trash on what ever form of Social Media they are using. You can tell how depressed people are by posting all of the cheer you up stuff, which, there ain't nothing wrong with that. heck, I've done it.

I miss home. I miss my dogs...Miss the things I didn't have. I tolerate that. I miss green grass and trees. Oh, but, I had a quick trip to Weisbadden Germany last month and got to see both! Oh, but this ain't as bad as Iraq was. You people that ain't ever been here, you just don't know.

Go ahead, build a Dog house on my grave.
The Appalachianist

The Tourist Games

I went to the MWR to see The Hunger Games last night. Next door they were doing karaoke. Karaoke is a disgusting and vile thing. Even though I'm a Libertarian, I contemplate it being outlawed, punishable by electrocution. Yes, karaoke singers should wear shock collars. Even in a boring place like Kuwait. As for the movie, I got it, enjoyed it and could say, "yep, looks like the rivers back home". Though, the majority of it was filmed down next to Hickory. I was reading the man that owns that old mill town in the movie wants to sell it. The tourist Mongers keep showing up there and it worries him. Honestly, I didn't see any scenery to get excited about. Good story line, though. sadly enough, I think our society is getting kind of like that, but, I'm not getting on my soap box today. Well, that's about it.

About my absence from posting, honestly, I just ain't felt like it.

So, what's your thoughts in Hurricane Lanterns?
The Appalachianist

Log Jam Be Dammed

Well, remember the log jam I was talking about (scroll down, I ain't linking at this juncture)is still there, but it's one more step of bureaucracy closer to being gone. My own County Commissioners.

Stay tuned.
The Appalachianist

Linkaroma, Well, Not Really

Are folks out of touch with anything but their own? I think so, and apparently, I'm not the only one to think so too. Hence this piece on NPR about this fellar, a fellow Libertarian, that wrote a book about it.

This is like linkaroma...

A story I read from back home. Again, next county over, Henderson. Now, let me tell you about the Green River. It goes down the Atlantic side of the mountain and enters the Broad. Don't confuse the Broad with the French Broad. The Broad goes down to the Atlantic and the French Broad is a tributary of the Tennessee. Historical note, the Battle of Cowpens was fought on the Green River Road. The Green River Bridge on I-26 is the tallest (so I've heard, shoot me in comments if I'm wrong) in the eastern US. But, off on Pintacle Mountain is a logging project that, well, read the story.

I need more links...Well, maybe I don't.

One of my buddies got a letter from a 9 year old girl today. I guess from a school project. She asked allot of questions, one of which..."What's your favorite thing about the war?"


One of my favorite Authors is John Ehle. He is from Asheville but he doesn't live there. He wrote The Winter People and another story, The Journey of August King.
He also wrote a good book on the Trail of Tears. Both The Winter People and The Journey of August King were made into movies. But, we will concern ourselves with The Journey of August King. It was made back in the mid 90's in Western North Carolina. A girl I worked with was an extra in it. Allot of scenes on Black Balsam Knob with a clear shot of Sam's Knob...Big Sam, Little Sam, the place folks call The Grave Yard Fields. They used those places as a community setting, and it ain't suitable to a community. One scene had a Red Bone Hound with a freeze brand. So, you can see, I don't think they did a good job of making it. (The Winter people had a better budget, they landed Kurt Russell)It's a good story though. Now, I admit, I've never read the book. I have The Winter People and my mother gave me an old tattered and battered copy that I was reading for the flight back across the water. Another admission...I just saw the movie for the first time night before last. Yep...Well, about the time it came out, I was never confronted by the opportunity to see it. About the time it came out on DVD, OK, Video at the time, I met a pretty girl and fell in Love. You'd think I would have watched it with her? but, for whatever reason, it wasn't well known. I didn't even know it was a John Ehle story. Well, the tattered and battered copy of The Winter People was dropped in the Atlanta Air Port and not recovered. So, I ordered a new copy and well, there was The Journey of August King.

It's a story about a widower helping a run away slave girl.

And it's time to stop typing.
The Appalachianist

French Broad Log Jam

I sit here in my humble abode typing these words. My leave is almost done, so, I don't speak of a place being far away.

I told you, that is if you read the last couple of posts, that I keep up with the news here at home. Another subject other than the next county over's Sherriff, that I keep up with is the Log Jam. In a section of Transylvania County known as Penrose( That's down stream of Pisgah Forest and Little River and just before Blantyre)in the shadows of Fodderstack Mountain, is a big pile of logs jammed up in the French Broad River.

Reports put it as wide as 75 feet, as high as 12 feet and 25 thick. The river is cutting around it and taking the bank off of the sides. A man's property is getting washed away and that is all the more sediment going down stream. It's also a public waterway and that makes it a danger to anyone in a boat. No brainer. Oh, and a bridge is right down stream.

Well, powers that be decided something ought to be done and things got in motion. But then times are hard so money came in question. The Lady Governor coughed up some funds. Now, this News Story is dated 9 November. Those logs are still piled up across that river. I read in the local paper, the Transylvania Times, that it's still a matter of who is responsable, dated 19th January 2012. They were talking about a border, etc. Which, a border is cool, but these logs came from upstream.

I think they want to bring in a track hoe and move the logs. I thought at first a few sticks of dynamite would get it busted. I don't know what's what, but what's the hold up? Well, they did say Febuary.

In a world full of isms, I cling to Appalachiaism...
The Appalachianist

Henderson County's Brewing Rumble

I'm providing a link on my neighboring county's issue with their Shrrif's Department. This is a compliment to the previous post. This is an opinion peace. I like the writers style. He makes the point I made. We would make good friends.

Hey, my lucky number...13. Your's too. I've got 13 followers. My ego is bursting (I'm not dead). If you read this, give me a shout. Call me out on issues, lambast me. Then, "dance around the camp fire, hang around a while". I just looked at the weather back home and it calls for precious rain. I also realised Friday is the 13th. A black cat crossed my path today too. Do you think this is a good thing?

Cracker singing "Sweet Patatoe"


Lucky me
The Appalachianist