Popular calls for the media to stop printing alleged killer James Eagan Holmes's name are well-meaning but misguided. As long as we're going to report mass murders at all, we have no choice but to refer to the murderers themselves. The only question is whether we identify them by their given names, or we assign them nicknames — stage names, really — that give them the larger-than-life personae they were gunning for all along.
Surely Albert DeSalvo, Richard Ramirez and Dennis Rader got far more sick pleasure reading about the Boston Strangler, the Night Stalker and the BTK Killer than they ever would have gotten under their own names, which were comparatively mundane (so mundane, in fact, that a Texas legislator, Rep. Tom Moore, once conned his colleagues into adopting a resolution in support of DeSalvo, because they had no idea who he was).
Ditto for Jack the Ripper (whose real name probably wasn't Jack), the Zodiac Killer, the Hillside Strangler(s), the Beltway Sniper(s), the list goes on.
James Eagan Holmes doesn't want to be called by his given name. He wants us to call him the Joker but would gladly settle for the Batman Shooter, the Dark Knight or even the Aurora Shooter. The last name he'd like us to call him by is James Eagan Holmes. That was his name as a nobody. And unless we want his evil deeds to promote him to a somebody, that's the only name anyone should call him now.
I was deeply disturbed by the July 19 article "Kitten attacked by children euthanized." The most troubling fact about this incident was that the brutal attack on this 3-month-old kitten was perpetrated by elementary school-aged children. One child purposefully tried to drown the kitten after the group of children stoned the kitten unconscious.
In this particular case, I believe the offending children should be punished, and the respective parents should be held accountable for the actions of their children. Additionally, all the children should receive education and counseling. Only through early education and remediation can future incidents such as this one be avoided.
In this spirit, I have made a contribution to the Humane Society of Davidson County in the memory of the kitten, Heaven, to further education efforts on appropriate treatment of animals. I offer my sincerest sympathy to the family of the kitten, Heaven.
STEPHANIE REHM Winston-Salem
"Losing democracy"
No matter how hard it is for us, we Americans must face the truth about what is happening to our democracy. It is crumbling.
Our democratic process is now undermined by many of our states passing voter ID laws along with other restrictions that limit the rights of blacks, Latinos, young people and the elderly. In addition, political parties are involved in efforts to redraw maps to make new voting districts, thereby eliminating competition by pooling voters inclined to vote for their candidates inside district lines while isolating voters who might oppose them.
A more important reason our democratic system is in danger is that those Americans who do vote find that they put into office at state, congressional or presidential levels candidates who have become so dependent on campaign money from big corporations, big banks and other wealthy donors that, when elected, they support legislation that benefits big-money interests but not the interests of most of us. In the current presidential campaign, most of the voters haven't lost their voices, they can't afford to make their voices heard.
Today our government seems to be developing into a plutocracy in which the wealthy exercise the preponderance of political power. But as our own history demonstrates, people without great wealth outnumber those who do, and once they combine their voices into an organized movement, they can reclaim our democracy.
We must build an independent capacity to elect people's champions representing the 99 percent — and to hold them accountable.
Navy officials noted that reliance on foreign oil is a strategic weakness ("Military, lawmakers clash on alternative energy," July 20). But Sens. John McCain and James Inhofe pushed an amendment to prohibit the military from buying alternative fuels if costs exceeded fossil-fuel costs. Inhofe said the Pentagon "should not be wasting time perpetuating President Obama's global warming fantasies." Does Inhofe really believe that 95 percent of climate scientists have global warming fantasies?
Army Secretary John McHugh said, "If you're an Army at war, the last thing you want to do is add to the risk that the soldier takes. For every 44 convoys we put on the road in Afghanistan, we lose one soldier. Anything we can do to take a convoy off the road is a good thing." Fuel accounts for over 50 percent of the load carried by supply convoys in Afghanistan. These convoys are regularly subject to attacks consisting of improvised explosive devices and/or direct fire ambushes. The Army is saving lives by using solar panels, improved battery technology and other energy-efficiency techniques that reduce the number of fuel deliveries.
The oil and gas industries have been generous to Sens. McCain and Inhofe, giving McCain a total of $2.9 million and Inhofe $1.4 million (according to the Center for Responsive Politics). Let's hope that the full Senate puts the lives of our military personnel above the interests of these industries.
CHARLES E. WILSON Winston-Salem
"The idea itself"
See Dana Milbank's July 23 column, "Ron Paul's fruitless effort to end the Fed." If Dana Milbank deems doing away with the Federal Reserve system to be so unthinkable, why does he waste 722 words ridiculing the aging leader of the anti-Fed movement? Why does he not attack the idea itself?
It is cowardly and dishonest to advance one's cause by dismissing the opposing point of view as unworthy of debate.
Is it so implausible that an inelastic unit of account immune to central-bank manipulation could provide the magic combination of restraint and dynamism that our volumes of banking regulations have failed to achieve?
I do not count myself among those who blame the marginalization of Ron Paul upon a Sorosian global conspiracy of bankers and Keynesians. Sorry, nothing quite so exciting. I chalk it up instead to an intellectually lazy Fourth Estate complacently confident that truth cannot exist outside an increasingly narrowly defined mainstream.
Do you think boycotts and "buycotts" are effective?
Respond to letters@wsjournal.com and put "Sum It Up" in the subject header. Only signed entries, please — no anonymous ones. Briefer responses receive preference in print.
Do you think boycotts and "buycotts" are effective?
Absolutely, the recent 'buycott' sent a clear message to left-wing, radical, Democrat leaders that people will not be 'bullied' by their bigoted speech against Christians.
I hope Mr. Cathy sues the ever loving fool (and there's a lot fool in them people) out of the mayors of Chicago, San Franisco, and Boston for violating his civil rights, and for any damages that his company may have received as a result of their statements against Chick-fil-A Corporation.
A person, using the power of government, has no right to take away the 'civil rights' of a human being, or corporation.
Good luck getting AG Holder, the most corrupt Attorney General in history, to act though.
Cathy didn't go after hate. Hate and bigotry came after him.
"This wasn’t about 'supporting free speech.' It was about supporting speech that you agree with. None of the people waiting in line today would have been out there if Mr. Cathy had used his free speech to come out in support of marriage equality. It also wasn’t about 'supporting religious freedom.' I guarantee you that none of the people shoving antibiotic-filled chicken into their mouths today were out in support of the local mosques people are trying to keep from being built (If someone can prove me wrong, let me know–I’ll buy you a chicken sandwich). This was a giant STAND UP IF YOU THINK THAT BEING GAY IS SINFUL, and the church turned out in droves."
In case you missed it Bucky, here is a key part of the blog post:
"This wasn’t about 'supporting free speech.' It was about supporting speech that you agree with.None of the people waiting in line today would have been out there if Mr. Cathy had used his free speech to come out in support of marriage equality.
In case you missed it LaSombra, these mayors, using the power of the government, told a private company that it wasn't welcome in their jurisdictions because of the opinion of the company's president.
That is just scummy politics. And, it's probably illegal.
You're speculating, Bucky. Besides, those mayors, as part of their jurisdictional duties, made an administrative decision. The rest of us are just speculators looking in from the outside.
Speaking of scummy-the Obama Administration is suing the State of Ohio because it allows extra time for military personnel to vote. Most servicemen vote Republican.
Democrats and the Obama Administration don't want voter I.D. laws, because it would suppress the illegal immigrant vote and others, they allege. Illegals, typically, vote for Democrats in hopes of getting amnesty. But Democrats sure do want to suppress the military vote. Make sense to me if you want to have a corrupt and scummy country.
I would like to thank Bob for pointing out all of the companies that are attempting to force their political beliefs down on the rest of us, particularly the gay agenda.
I've been able to identify several that I currently do business with that I will 'boycott' in the future.
Thanks again Bob. And get back in here! We miss you.
Stab, Bob, et al…sorry we missed you last night. Had plans to be there, but at 4:00 PM the word came: "It's on. Pick you up in 15." Now that is a rarity…all 8 of the original Christmas Orphans had somehow found time to spend about 24 hours together.
An hour and a half later we were unloading food and hiking gear into Liz's mountain top cabin north of Meadows of Dan. We cooked and drank and talked until the Sunday wee hours, then got up and did a nineteen mile hike along one of Liz's trails and the complete Rock Gorge Castle Trail, one of the most challenging, yet rewarding, trails in this region. If we're lucky, we get to do a real trail like that maybe 6-8 times a year.
On the way home late this afternoon, we stopped at the Poor Farmer's Market in Meadows of Dan for pinto beans and cornbread. We also had a taste of real chicken, locally grown and fried, that somebody had brought by.
I note that the Buckaroo has had a fine time chatting with himself about irrelevant matters most of the day. That's the only way he will ever win an argument, with himself as the opponent.
One of the reasons that I am considering retiring to my hometown is that we are fortunate to be surrounded by so many great places.
The Outer Banks are only a few hours away. And the Great Smokys. And closer to home, just a few minutes away, we have Hanging Rock, one of the best state parks in the nation, and only a few more minutes out, the Blue Ridge Parkway and great national heritage trails like Rock Gorge Castle and Mount Rogers and the Virginia Creeper and the brand new Saltville Trail. If you're not up to long walks, the last two are made for you.
The Creeper is a 34 mile trail that follows an old railroad line…they will rent you a bicycle for the downhill part through s spectacular river gorge and return you to your car. Saltville is another bicycle trail where you can learn about the importance of salt in early America.
I'm a big supporter of the NC Zoo, but today we saw several ravens and a dozen or more red tailed hawks flying free and one small black bear, probably a spring cub, rummaging in the bushes, her snout stained by the wild blueberries that she was eating.
And I mentioned earlier the Poor Farmer's Market in Meadows of Dan. It's a true farmer's market offering an incredible array of flowers; vegetables and fruits and home baked items such as their extraordinary sour cream poundcake and cookies; and pumpkin, carrot, banana, apple, lemon and chocolate breads; pimiento cheese and cole slaw.
Their lunchroom serves up a variety of good things to eat, including the aforementioned pinto beans and cornbread, along with an array of subs, including the legendary Hungry Hillbilly…not for the faint of heart.
Felicia Shelor, early widowed, has owned and operated the Poor Farmer's for decades. She once wrote a tribute to Buford Wood, Mountain Man, a lifelong friend who, as she says, "built me". A heavily edited excerpt, due to long, long, length:
We go way back, Buford Wood and me. I knew him all my life. I stayed with my grandmother. She had sons about Buford's age, so I remember him around my house when I was a small child.
They were a wild bunch, Buford and my uncles, drinking and carousing and fighting. I think we were the last of a unique people, native to these mountains, rough and tough and rugged. We could and did live completely off the land. We grew what we ate and the men prided themselves on killing with a bow or gun the biggest buck, food for the family. Drinking was a way of life as was a pure belief in God and Jesus and heaven and hell.
People from the outside thought we were ignorant, uneducated. But all the men from these mountains in my generation and back could build a house, rebuild a motor for a car or tractor, grow all the food for the family, fix any and everything that broke, skin a rabbit, butcher a hog, make moonshine. The list goes on.
When "city" people started moving to these mountains they thought we were ignorant, but the people from here thought they were ignorant. None of them had any of the basic survival skills that virtually all the mountain men possessed.
And Buford was top of the pecking order around here.
I have a store in Meadows of Dan that Buford built. He didn't have plans. He just built it from ideas in his head. Once I was in a dressing room in a store in Mount Airy, a poster on the wall caught my eye of a beautiful cabin in the woods. I brought the poster home and Buford built the cabin for me just from the picture.
He built many houses that I sold and I made a lot of money. When my beloved fiance, Dan, died in 2003 Buford built a memorial building for him at Willville Bikers Campground.
He built my barn, my chicken house, my guesthouse. He rebuilt my cabin on the river. He built my life. In many ways, he built me.
He worked for other people too building houses and ponds and roads. Buford could "witch" for water by holding two birch branches in his hands. He could locate the best place to drill by the way the branches would feel in his hands when water was nearby. It really did work.
Buford didn't finish 5th grade. He told about being in school one day, the teacher told him to spell a certain word. He tried and tried but when he couldn't get it right the mean old woman "boxed his ears" is the way he put it, and beat him about the face until he was black and blue. He never went back to school.
Buford Wood was by far the smartest person I ever knew.
Two times a year I hold a big event to celebrate the winter and summer solstices. Buford loved to help with this. Actually it was mostly his doing. He would invite his friends and I would invite mine. Buford would arrive early in the morning to help clean and cook and get everything ready. He would build a big bonfire and cook venison stew over the open fire in an old cast iron pot. At night he would do a hayride for everybody to ride around the farm in the moonlight. I liked to show off the stars that I "bought" when I bought this farm. See? This is my sky. I could tell everyone. We were happy. I still try to have these parties but they just aren't the same without old Buford. Nothing is the same. It never will be.
Well, this week it's Holy Ghost Tent Revival, an amazing roots boogie band, right up in the same league as West End Mambo, yet totally different. That's what I love about the music in the streets series…variety.
Unfortunately, at the moment, I am scheduled to be in Chicago this weekend. Chicago has a great summer music tradition which provides something every day of the week. But this year we have lost two of the best series, both of which were daily and diverse. I am informed that we will be attending the Haydn "The Seasons" performance in Grant Park…remember, that was the site of the "police riot" in 1968?
But as some have noted, my schedules seem to be awfully flexible, so who knows. I would rather see and hear Holy Ghost.
As to the mountain lady's reminiscences, she is talking about an extraordinary culture that extended from around Mt. Airy up to about Floyd, VA from the early 1800s well into the 20th century.
It was hard, crude, tough, mean and totally survivalist. You either could hack it or you couldn't. And it was almost entirely Baptist, so her characterization of the fighting drinking men who also believed in Jesus is totally on target.
Six days a week you drank and fought and sometimes killed...on Sunday you repented and started all over on Monday.
Want to read a great and inspiring book about that culture, take up The Man Who Moved A Mountain by Richard Davids about Bob Childress, the worst of the six day brawlers, who transformed the local culture through force of will.
The neat part about this book is that you can drive up to the Parkway and see the five beautiful stone Presbyterian churches that Bob built and visit his home and the important school that he also built at Buffalo Mountain.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteBucky, on the 7th day, God rested, so saith Genesis. How 'bout you take a rest from your obsession.
DeleteGolden Rule..do unto others as---no not now a days.
ReplyDeleteHe who has the gold makes...everyone else mad? No not that.
All the gold in California, is in a bank in the middle of Beverly Hills in somebody else's name...well, the FDIC seized it long ago.
There's gold in them thar hills---EPA says stay out.
Maybe it is a good day to go to SC for a family reunion.
Hope you have a great trip.
Delete"The killer's name"-Correspondent of the Week
ReplyDeletePopular calls for the media to stop printing alleged killer James Eagan Holmes's name are well-meaning but misguided. As long as we're going to report mass murders at all, we have no choice but to refer to the murderers themselves. The only question is whether we identify them by their given names, or we assign them nicknames — stage names, really — that give them the larger-than-life personae they were gunning for all along.
Surely Albert DeSalvo, Richard Ramirez and Dennis Rader got far more sick pleasure reading about the Boston Strangler, the Night Stalker and the BTK Killer than they ever would have gotten under their own names, which were comparatively mundane (so mundane, in fact, that a Texas legislator, Rep. Tom Moore, once conned his colleagues into adopting a resolution in support of DeSalvo, because they had no idea who he was).
Ditto for Jack the Ripper (whose real name probably wasn't Jack), the Zodiac Killer, the Hillside Strangler(s), the Beltway Sniper(s), the list goes on.
James Eagan Holmes doesn't want to be called by his given name. He wants us to call him the Joker but would gladly settle for the Batman Shooter, the Dark Knight or even the Aurora Shooter. The last name he'd like us to call him by is James Eagan Holmes. That was his name as a nobody. And unless we want his evil deeds to promote him to a somebody, that's the only name anyone should call him now.
JEFF BISHOP
Winston-Salem
"Held accountable"
DeleteI was deeply disturbed by the July 19 article "Kitten attacked by children euthanized." The most troubling fact about this incident was that the brutal attack on this 3-month-old kitten was perpetrated by elementary school-aged children. One child purposefully tried to drown the kitten after the group of children stoned the kitten unconscious.
In this particular case, I believe the offending children should be punished, and the respective parents should be held accountable for the actions of their children. Additionally, all the children should receive education and counseling. Only through early education and remediation can future incidents such as this one be avoided.
In this spirit, I have made a contribution to the Humane Society of Davidson County in the memory of the kitten, Heaven, to further education efforts on appropriate treatment of animals. I offer my sincerest sympathy to the family of the kitten, Heaven.
STEPHANIE REHM
Winston-Salem
"Losing democracy"
No matter how hard it is for us, we Americans must face the truth about what is happening to our democracy. It is crumbling.
Our democratic process is now undermined by many of our states passing voter ID laws along with other restrictions that limit the rights of blacks, Latinos, young people and the elderly. In addition, political parties are involved in efforts to redraw maps to make new voting districts, thereby eliminating competition by pooling voters inclined to vote for their candidates inside district lines while isolating voters who might oppose them.
A more important reason our democratic system is in danger is that those Americans who do vote find that they put into office at state, congressional or presidential levels candidates who have become so dependent on campaign money from big corporations, big banks and other wealthy donors that, when elected, they support legislation that benefits big-money interests but not the interests of most of us. In the current presidential campaign, most of the voters haven't lost their voices, they can't afford to make their voices heard.
Today our government seems to be developing into a plutocracy in which the wealthy exercise the preponderance of political power. But as our own history demonstrates, people without great wealth outnumber those who do, and once they combine their voices into an organized movement, they can reclaim our democracy.
We must build an independent capacity to elect people's champions representing the 99 percent — and to hold them accountable.
STANTON TEFFT
Winston-Salem
"A strategic weakness"
DeleteNavy officials noted that reliance on foreign oil is a strategic weakness ("Military, lawmakers clash on alternative energy," July 20). But Sens. John McCain and James Inhofe pushed an amendment to prohibit the military from buying alternative fuels if costs exceeded fossil-fuel costs. Inhofe said the Pentagon "should not be wasting time perpetuating President Obama's global warming fantasies." Does Inhofe really believe that 95 percent of climate scientists have global warming fantasies?
Army Secretary John McHugh said, "If you're an Army at war, the last thing you want to do is add to the risk that the soldier takes. For every 44 convoys we put on the road in Afghanistan, we lose one soldier. Anything we can do to take a convoy off the road is a good thing." Fuel accounts for over 50 percent of the load carried by supply convoys in Afghanistan. These convoys are regularly subject to attacks consisting of improvised explosive devices and/or direct fire ambushes. The Army is saving lives by using solar panels, improved battery technology and other energy-efficiency techniques that reduce the number of fuel deliveries.
The oil and gas industries have been generous to Sens. McCain and Inhofe, giving McCain a total of $2.9 million and Inhofe $1.4 million (according to the Center for Responsive Politics). Let's hope that the full Senate puts the lives of our military personnel above the interests of these industries.
CHARLES E. WILSON
Winston-Salem
"The idea itself"
See Dana Milbank's July 23 column, "Ron Paul's fruitless effort to end the Fed." If Dana Milbank deems doing away with the Federal Reserve system to be so unthinkable, why does he waste 722 words ridiculing the aging leader of the anti-Fed movement? Why does he not attack the idea itself?
It is cowardly and dishonest to advance one's cause by dismissing the opposing point of view as unworthy of debate.
Is it so implausible that an inelastic unit of account immune to central-bank manipulation could provide the magic combination of restraint and dynamism that our volumes of banking regulations have failed to achieve?
I do not count myself among those who blame the marginalization of Ron Paul upon a Sorosian global conspiracy of bankers and Keynesians. Sorry, nothing quite so exciting. I chalk it up instead to an intellectually lazy Fourth Estate complacently confident that truth cannot exist outside an increasingly narrowly defined mainstream.
BARNEY W. HILL
Thomasville
Sum It Up
DeleteDo you think boycotts and "buycotts" are effective?
Respond to letters@wsjournal.com and put "Sum It Up" in the subject header. Only signed entries, please — no anonymous ones. Briefer responses receive preference in print.
Do you think boycotts and "buycotts" are effective?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, the recent 'buycott' sent a clear message to left-wing, radical, Democrat leaders that people will not be 'bullied' by their bigoted speech against Christians.
I hope Mr. Cathy sues the ever loving fool (and there's a lot fool in them people) out of the mayors of Chicago, San Franisco, and Boston for violating his civil rights, and for any damages that his company may have received as a result of their statements against Chick-fil-A Corporation.
DeleteA person, using the power of government, has no right to take away the 'civil rights' of a human being, or corporation.
Good luck getting AG Holder, the most corrupt Attorney General in history, to act though.
Cathy didn't go after hate. Hate and bigotry came after him.
http://cathyfamily.com/
From the blog "The Boeskool - - Why The Lines At Chick-Fil-A Made Me Cry":
Delete"This wasn’t about 'supporting free speech.' It was about supporting speech that you agree with. None of the people waiting in line today would have been out there if Mr. Cathy had used his free speech to come out in support of marriage equality. It also wasn’t about 'supporting religious freedom.' I guarantee you that none of the people shoving antibiotic-filled chicken into their mouths today were out in support of the local mosques people are trying to keep from being built (If someone can prove me wrong, let me know–I’ll buy you a chicken sandwich). This was a giant STAND UP IF YOU THINK THAT BEING GAY IS SINFUL, and the church turned out in droves."
In case you missed it Bucky, here is a key part of the blog post:
"This wasn’t about 'supporting free speech.' It was about supporting speech that you agree with. None of the people waiting in line today would have been out there if Mr. Cathy had used his free speech to come out in support of marriage equality.
In case you missed it LaSombra, these mayors, using the power of the government, told a private company that it wasn't welcome in their jurisdictions because of the opinion of the company's president.
DeleteThat is just scummy politics. And, it's probably illegal.
P.S. You've got some big shoes to fill if you are going to try to take me on like Bob used to.
Delete'They gotta be round! They can't be oval, hello, ...hello!'
You're speculating, Bucky. Besides, those mayors, as part of their jurisdictional duties, made an administrative decision. The rest of us are just speculators looking in from the outside.
DeleteChicken lips are scarce.
Deletehttp://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/chicken_lips_are_scarce_YjYD7gxNbcBd4WhzBWcJgN#ixzz22Zml90Lf
. . . but they're highly concentrated right here in the Triad, most of them in line at the Chick-fil-A.
DeleteSpeaking of scummy-the Obama Administration is suing the State of Ohio because it allows extra time for military personnel to vote. Most servicemen vote Republican.
DeleteDemocrats and the Obama Administration don't want voter I.D. laws, because it would suppress the illegal immigrant vote and others, they allege. Illegals, typically, vote for Democrats in hopes of getting amnesty. But Democrats sure do want to suppress the military vote. Make sense to me if you want to have a corrupt and scummy country.
I would like to thank Bob for pointing out all of the companies that are attempting to force their political beliefs down on the rest of us, particularly the gay agenda.
DeleteI've been able to identify several that I currently do business with that I will 'boycott' in the future.
Thanks again Bob. And get back in here! We miss you.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteReagan and Obama-Capitalism v. Socialism
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=lgh6wivCerE&NR=1
You'll like this video, even if you disagree with some of the things that are said. It's funny.
DeleteBoxing match between Reagan and Obama: Clinton gets in the middle of things
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=Oj5DxlCOybE&NR=1
Stab, Bob, et al…sorry we missed you last night. Had plans to be there, but at 4:00 PM the word came: "It's on. Pick you up in 15." Now that is a rarity…all 8 of the original Christmas Orphans had somehow found time to spend about 24 hours together.
ReplyDeleteAn hour and a half later we were unloading food and hiking gear into Liz's mountain top cabin north of Meadows of Dan. We cooked and drank and talked until the Sunday wee hours, then got up and did a nineteen mile hike along one of Liz's trails and the complete Rock Gorge Castle Trail, one of the most challenging, yet rewarding, trails in this region. If we're lucky, we get to do a real trail like that maybe 6-8 times a year.
On the way home late this afternoon, we stopped at the Poor Farmer's Market in Meadows of Dan for pinto beans and cornbread. We also had a taste of real chicken, locally grown and fried, that somebody had brought by.
I note that the Buckaroo has had a fine time chatting with himself about irrelevant matters most of the day. That's the only way he will ever win an argument, with himself as the opponent.
One of the reasons that I am considering retiring to my hometown is that we are fortunate to be surrounded by so many great places.
ReplyDeleteThe Outer Banks are only a few hours away. And the Great Smokys. And closer to home, just a few minutes away, we have Hanging Rock, one of the best state parks in the nation, and only a few more minutes out, the Blue Ridge Parkway and great national heritage trails like Rock Gorge Castle and Mount Rogers and the Virginia Creeper and the brand new Saltville Trail. If you're not up to long walks, the last two are made for you.
The Creeper is a 34 mile trail that follows an old railroad line…they will rent you a bicycle for the downhill part through s spectacular river gorge and return you to your car. Saltville is another bicycle trail where you can learn about the importance of salt in early America.
I'm a big supporter of the NC Zoo, but today we saw several ravens and a dozen or more red tailed hawks flying free and one small black bear, probably a spring cub, rummaging in the bushes, her snout stained by the wild blueberries that she was eating.
And I mentioned earlier the Poor Farmer's Market in Meadows of Dan. It's a true farmer's market offering an incredible array of flowers; vegetables and fruits and home baked items such as their extraordinary sour cream poundcake and cookies; and pumpkin, carrot, banana, apple, lemon and chocolate breads; pimiento cheese and cole slaw.
Their lunchroom serves up a variety of good things to eat, including the aforementioned pinto beans and cornbread, along with an array of subs, including the legendary Hungry Hillbilly…not for the faint of heart.
Felicia Shelor, early widowed, has owned and operated the Poor Farmer's for decades. She once wrote a tribute to Buford Wood, Mountain Man, a lifelong friend who, as she says, "built me". A heavily edited excerpt, due to long, long, length:
ReplyDeleteWe go way back, Buford Wood and me. I knew him all my life. I stayed with my grandmother. She had sons about Buford's age, so I remember him around my house when I was a small child.
They were a wild bunch, Buford and my uncles, drinking and carousing and fighting. I think we were the last of a unique people, native to these mountains, rough and tough and rugged. We could and did live completely off the land. We grew what we ate and the men prided themselves on killing with a bow or gun the biggest buck, food for the family. Drinking was a way of life as was a pure belief in God and Jesus and heaven and hell.
People from the outside thought we were ignorant, uneducated. But all the men from these mountains in my generation and back could build a house, rebuild a motor for a car or tractor, grow all the food for the family, fix any and everything that broke, skin a rabbit, butcher a hog, make moonshine. The list goes on.
When "city" people started moving to these mountains they thought we were ignorant, but the people from here thought they were ignorant. None of them had any of the basic survival skills that virtually all the mountain men possessed.
And Buford was top of the pecking order around here.
I have a store in Meadows of Dan that Buford built. He didn't have plans. He just built it from ideas in his head. Once I was in a dressing room in a store in Mount Airy, a poster on the wall caught my eye of a beautiful cabin in the woods. I brought the poster home and Buford built the cabin for me just from the picture.
He built many houses that I sold and I made a lot of money. When my beloved fiance, Dan, died in 2003 Buford built a memorial building for him at Willville Bikers Campground.
He built my barn, my chicken house, my guesthouse. He rebuilt my cabin on the river. He built my life. In many ways, he built me.
He worked for other people too building houses and ponds and roads. Buford could "witch" for water by holding two birch branches in his hands. He could locate the best place to drill by the way the branches would feel in his hands when water was nearby. It really did work.
Buford didn't finish 5th grade. He told about being in school one day, the teacher told him to spell a certain word. He tried and tried but when he couldn't get it right the mean old woman "boxed his ears" is the way he put it, and beat him about the face until he was black and blue. He never went back to school.
Buford Wood was by far the smartest person I ever knew.
Two times a year I hold a big event to celebrate the winter and summer solstices. Buford loved to help with this. Actually it was mostly his doing. He would invite his friends and I would invite mine. Buford would arrive early in the morning to help clean and cook and get everything ready. He would build a big bonfire and cook venison stew over the open fire in an old cast iron pot. At night he would do a hayride for everybody to ride around the farm in the moonlight. I liked to show off the stars that I "bought" when I bought this farm. See? This is my sky. I could tell everyone. We were happy. I still try to have these parties but they just aren't the same without old Buford. Nothing is the same. It never will be.
Hey, Cuz. We may go back next weekend. Enjoyed your posts re hiking, farmers' mkt, and the mtn lady's reminiscences.
DeleteWell, this week it's Holy Ghost Tent Revival, an amazing roots boogie band, right up in the same league as West End Mambo, yet totally different. That's what I love about the music in the streets series…variety.
DeleteUnfortunately, at the moment, I am scheduled to be in Chicago this weekend. Chicago has a great summer music tradition which provides something every day of the week. But this year we have lost two of the best series, both of which were daily and diverse. I am informed that we will be attending the Haydn "The Seasons" performance in Grant Park…remember, that was the site of the "police riot" in 1968?
But as some have noted, my schedules seem to be awfully flexible, so who knows. I would rather see and hear Holy Ghost.
As to the mountain lady's reminiscences, she is talking about an extraordinary culture that extended from around Mt. Airy up to about Floyd, VA from the early 1800s well into the 20th century.
DeleteIt was hard, crude, tough, mean and totally survivalist. You either could hack it or you couldn't. And it was almost entirely Baptist, so her characterization of the fighting drinking men who also believed in Jesus is totally on target.
Six days a week you drank and fought and sometimes killed...on Sunday you repented and started all over on Monday.
Want to read a great and inspiring book about that culture, take up The Man Who Moved A Mountain by Richard Davids about Bob Childress, the worst of the six day brawlers, who transformed the local culture through force of will.
The neat part about this book is that you can drive up to the Parkway and see the five beautiful stone Presbyterian churches that Bob built and visit his home and the important school that he also built at Buffalo Mountain.