4th of July on the Mountain

HAPPY JULY 4TH FROM THE APPALACHIANS!

Though we live 8 miles from "town", we are secluded yet not isolated. Our little town had signs up all week advertising their July 4th celebration and fireworks show at a small lake near downtown. I really hadn't intended on going as Sissy had to work and someone needs to be home with our animals (3 dogs, 1 kitty cat). They are still adjusting to the new environment and we try not to leave them alone more than necessary.

When we lived at the coast, the 4th was hectic and noisy. A tourist area, it was insanely busy on holidays and the locals knew better than to venture far from home. Rather than attend the local fireworks display, people chose to do their own little shows at home...and our particular street, being close to the college, was no exception. Fireworks rang out starting the day before almost non-stop until the 5th, often times until the wee hours of the morning. At first it's all good, but after hours of non-stop booms, it gets a little old. Even worse, one of our dogs is terrified of loud noises and we actually had to tranquilize her during such events. One year it was so bad I had to call the police to put an end to it at 3am (which only made the culprits carry on more).

So when we moved up here to our quiet little hideaway, we were relieved in the assumption that no one would dare shoot off fireworks. The nearest fire hydrant is 4 miles away. Surly no one would jeopardize the mountains and homes by inadvertently starting a fire! Well, you know what they say about assuming....

They started at 9pm last night. It was like dueling fireworks. They started up the mountain and then came from below. Everything echos up here so one loud boom sounds like a dozen. I have no idea what kind of fireworks these are, but it sounds like a re-enactment of the Civil War! These are not the run-of-the-mill firework! KABOOM!! ...and no pretty lights that I can see. Just thunderous booms. The poor dog is having a melt down. Can you give a dog Xanax?

Anyway, duly noted. Hope everyone has a great Independence Day!

Mountain Folk..meeting the neighbors

The first few days after arriving here in the Appalachians were spent unpacking. Trying to find a "home" for things in a new house is always challenging, especially when you are a tad OCD like I am. By the end of week one, I was ready to take on the yard work, which had obviously been neglected since last spring. Going from a small residential neighborhood to a half acre yard, I began to wonder if I bit off more than I could chew...at least at first.

..the front yard

I opened the shed and gazed upon the lawn mower, wondering if being "self propelled" meant it would magically do the work. So... all I had to do was hold on as it glided up and down the rolling hills (and over the rocks) of the sprawling yard? I looked over my shoulder and quickly realized I was fantasizing. Rocks were protruding from the 6 inches of grass almost everywhere I looked. Let's be real, I get freaked out if I run over a heavy twig with the mower! What to do...what to do. Well, I could always use the weed eater. After all, I could do the entire yard with it at my old house. But wait.... it's electric. No problem! I have 150 feet of extension cord and there was an outdoor electrical outlet. Yes, that'll do it.....sooooo

...I untangled the 150 ft. of extension cord and got to work.

Ummm...mow??

Trying to weed eat on a slope, with protruding rocks and unidentified thorny "things" was more challenging than I had imagined. After 15 minutes of profuse perspiring while stopping and looking at the uneven mess I was making, my next door neighbor (house in the background .. photo above) walked over. After introducing himself, he asked (in a very kind way) what the hell I was doing. I explained that I was concerned about tearing up the mower and he offered the use of his "tractor" if/when ever I needed it. I must have had a blank expression on my face and he began to laugh and offered to cut my grass when he did his own being it would "..only take a few extra minutes". I hugged him, offered him gas and/or payment (which he politely refused) and gladly accepted his offer. He's been cutting my grass ever since, though I manage to do the weed eating (in the appropriate places), tend to the garden and suffer with a bout of poison ivy now and again without much effort.

...the "road" to my house. After 25 yards, it's about 6 ft wide :)

The next day, 3 women stopped by and introduced themselves, pointing up the road to show me which of the sparsely placed homes were theirs. Within a few weeks, most everyone on the 3/4 mile long "road" (if you want to call it that) I live on stopped by, waved, offered assistance or otherwise made it clear we (my sissy and I) were welcome to the mountain.  One neighbor we have nicknamed "The Handy Man" came by a few days ago to spray my gravel driveway for weeds. He helped me identify several trees I had been wondering about (see the Gardening tab above) and gave me a little history about the mountain and the 2 or 3 families that have lived here for 3 generations.  We also met a kind man named Dave at the tiny stone church up the road last Sunday. He stopped by on his golf cart yesterday with some cabbage from his garden and identified some berries I was about to hack down by the creek. Turns out they are wild raspberries! Needless to say, I am so very grateful to have such warm, helpful and knowledgeable neighbors to guide me on my new adventure.

Wild Raspberries! At least 20 bushes of them growing next to my creek :)

History of the Blue Ridge Parkway

The Blue Ridge Parkway, stretching 469 miles between the Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks, has offered visitors breathtaking vistas, wilderness access, and a reprieve from fast-paced commercialism since the mid-1930s. It is positioned atop the rims and contours of the Blue Ridge, a mountain chain that is part of the larger Appalachian Mountains.

Work began on the road in September 1935, near Cumberland Knob in North Carolina, during the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Originally called the “Appalachian Scenic Highway”, in 1936 the U.S. Congress formally authorized the project as the “Blue Ridge Parkway” and placed it under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service.

Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) workers paving a section of the Blue Ridge Parkway. This photograph is part of the online exhibit,“Works Projects in North Carolina, 1933-1941″ and is published courtesy of the North Carolina State Archives.

Though implemented during the Great Depression due to a need to create jobs, the actual idea for the Parkway dates back to an earlier generation. America in the early 20th century was worried about the effects of urbanization and industrialization on its population. Throughout the country, politicians, planners, physicians, and philanthropists worked to reintroduce the benefits of the natural world into one increasingly identified as contaminated, artificial, and unhealthy. Designer Frederick Law Olmstead was recruited to create manmade environments that would blend into their natural surroundings in places like New York’s Central Park and the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. In fact, the term “park-way” was chosen to describe the thread of soft green that Olmstead wove through the hard iron and concrete of New York City. Thus, when it came time to plan the “Appalachian Scenic Highway” in the early 1930s, it was fitting that the folks in Washington contacted not first an engineer, but a landscape architect. Consequently, it was no surprise that the lead architect chosen, Stanley Abbott, drew his inspiration and creativity from the father of the modern American “parkway”, Frederick Olmstead.

Linville Falls is one of the sights along the Blue Ridge Parkway

As the Blue Ridge Parkway route was being mapped between the Shenandoah and the Great Smoky Mountain National Parks, a bitter debate emerged between Tennessee and North Carolina – specifically between the cities of Knoxville and Asheville. It was recognized that the Parkway would bring with it both visitors and economic benefits. Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes ultimately chose North Carolina for three reasons: the state already had two national forests (Pisgah and Nantahala) that could be used as a corridor for the Parkway, North Carolina was considered more scenic, and because Tennessee had previously been awarded New Deal projects like the Tennessee Valley Authority.

As a result, the route for the project was selected, 217 miles in Virginia and 252 miles in North Carolina. The Works Progress Administration did roadway construction. Personnel from the Emergency Relief Administration were responsible for landscape and recreation areas. However, most of the work was completed by crews from four Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps. These camps hired local labor, reemphasizing the regional economic stimulus goals of the project. Of interest, when WWII arrived, work on the Parkway continued by using conscientious objectors employed by the Civilian Public Service program. By the time the CCC was closed out in 1942, the Parkway was two-thirds completed. From that point on, work on the remaining sections was sporatic. It was not until 1987, with the completion of the Linn Cove Viaduct, that the Blue Ridge Parkway was finally connected from beginning to end.


“Most people view highways as cold impersonal slabs of concrete built by strangers on noisy earthmoving machines. The majestic Blue Ridge Parkway…is different.”

It is significant to note the Blue Ridge Parkway is much more than an achievement of national infrastructure. It is truly an exhibit concept in both regional and cultural heritage. Traveling the Parkway is a journey through history. Fields cleared centuries ago for agriculture by Native Americans are still visible. Surviving are homestead structures built by early Appalachian pioneers. Old industry is evident by remnants of narrow-gauge railways tracks used in mining and logging operations, miller’s wheels, whiskey stills, and blacksmith shops.

Blending old with new characterizes the abundance of traditional mountain handicrafts. With over 250,000 visitors a year, the Folk Art Center in Asheville is the most popular attraction along the Parkway. It houses the Southern Highland Craft Guild’s 100 year-old Allanstand Craft Shop, exhibitions in three galleries, a library, and an auditorium.

The Young Pisgah Ridge Tunnel in Buncombe County is one of twenty-seven tunnels along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Image source.

So where does my adventure begin??

After 15 years of residing on the SE coast of North Carolina, I decided a change was in order. What would be the opposite of the sparkling ocean, sandy beaches, sea gulls and hoards of tourists every year from Memorial Day until Labor Day?? Hmmm, let me see...aha! How about the opposite side of the state, where the arid temperatures, beautiful mountains, nature and wildlife are abundant? Sounds like a plan Stan! I'm headed to Appalachians!

The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period and once reached elevations similar to those of the Alps and the Rocky Mountains before they were eroded.

 

Craggy Gardens: Central Appalachians

After a few road trips beginning in Mt. Airy and meandering over to the Great Smoky Mountains, I decided on an area (which shall remain undisclosed) near the Blue Ridge Parkway, just a few miles from the Pisgah National Forest. This is a decision I shall never regret! A wonderful synchronicity of events led me to a wonderful little house, tucked away between 2 ridges in a secluded (though not remote) area. Cell phone? Trash! Doesn't work up here. GPS? Forget it! Doesn't work up here either. Television? Nah, who needs it with so many great adventures to be had! I feel like I died a went to heaven, I tell you! This place is a dream come true!

Pisgah National Forest

The Pisgah National Forest is a land of mile-high peaks, cascading waterfalls, and heavily forested slopes. Comprised of over 500,000 acres, the Pisgah is primarily a hardwood forest with whitewater rivers, waterfalls and hundreds of miles of trails. This national forest is home of the first tract of land purchased under the Weeks Act of 1911 which led to the creation of the national forests in the eastern United States. It is also home of the first school of forestry in the United States, now preserved at the Cradle of Forestry in America historic site, and boasts two of the first designated wilderness areas in the east. The Pisgah, Grandfather and Appalachian Ranger Districts are scattered along the eastern edge of the mountains of western North Carolina and offer visitors a variety of opportunities for outdoor recreation and enjoying the natural beauty of the mountains. The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road in the United States, noted for its scenic beauty. More about that later..it's a fascinating story how this beautiful parkway came in to being.

So, I have decided after posting some of my adventures to my other blog (Our Planet Earth http://slaade.blogspot.com/) which are a bit off topic, I would instead begin a new blog ...and here it is!

I have been here in the mountains for 3 months now and not a day goes by without a new adventure, new discovery or just good old fashioned humor that I hope you find interesting. Thanks for stopping by! Make yourself at home!