As I made the decision to develop a blog about my Appalachian Heritage- I started to think what does Appalachia really mean to me? It is a word I have heard all my life. It is home. But there is a disconnect about what the word Appalachia brings to mind and what it actually stands for. I read an article by Michael Montgomery that discussed the myths connected with Appalachian English. After leaving east Tennessee (deep in the heart of Appalachia) where he was raised, he realized he had bought into some of the myths that surround Appalachia. In his mind he had thought of Appalachia as being somewhere other than east Tennessee.
After reading Mr. Montgomery’s article I realized I had been influenced by some of the myths too. To test myself I decided to name the first 5 things that came to my mind when I thought about the word Appalachia. Surprise! My first thought was banjo. I come from a musical family but no one played a banjo so where did that come from? Most of my thoughts seemed reasonable. Although, some of the random ones I could not connect to having lived in Appalachia my entire life.
I would like to challenge you to list the first 5 things that come to mind when you think of the word Appalachia. It doesn’t matter if you are a native Appalachian, a new comer, or have never been here. Just take the challenge. Click on the word comments below and leave your list for everyone to see. (If you leave a comment you’re automatically entered in Spread the Love a monthly giveaway) I can’t wait to see what random thoughts you have about Appalachia. I’m not sure which will be more interesting the responses from the natives or from those who have never lived here.
My List
- Banjo
- Weathered Barn
- Quilts
- Corn Fields
- Granny lady in long dress and apron
If you are confused about the exact location of Appalachia- check out the Hillbilly Savants blog where there is a new series about Appalachia. The second installment is “Where is Appalachia”. It is available by pod cast for you lucky folks with high speed Internet and for folks like me there is a transcript.
Tipper
I moved to the Appalachians back in 2006. I love the area, the natural beauty, is what took me in.
I follow you on YouTube and just started reading your blog.
Sadly being what is called a foreigner, someone not born in the Appalachians, in the many years I have lived here, I have yet to feel welcomed so watching your videos and reading your blog, makes me feel like I belong.
Thanks for your wonderful videos and blog.
Lisa-I’m so sorry you have not been welcomed. I sincerely hope that changes. I’m so glad you enjoy what we do!! We really appreciate your support 🙂
I’m from Indiana and my list is
mountain s
poor
coal miners
home cooking
railroad
When you wrote this, Appalachia was just a twinkle in my eye, and now I’ve lived in Appalachia almost 7 years. To me as a relative new comer Appalachia is to me
mountains and hills
sitting on a hillside on Independence Day with hundreds of folks who all know and sing the words to country roads
creeks and paths that go to the river
community gatherings with music
wet hills, hidden springs and leaning trees and yes, within my first month here I was finding hidden dumps with treasures to uncover
Those are mostly things I observed and have come to love, what I feel is a longing to know more and see more of Appalachia and bury my roots deep in the soil and never leave. I found your site long ago but was very busy exploring my little piece of heaven. I’ve slowed down a little this year and have been enjoying your blog, thank you for all that you have shared, your Appalachia, family and music, traditions, and stories are beautiful.
I am very very late to this question, but…
Mountains
Fiddles
Cornbread
Coal mines
Windy two-lane roads
1. Lyndon Johnson
2. Gravel or rock roads
3. Self reliant people
4. Clanish
5. Raising Tobacco
1. Moonshine
2. Hunting
3. Beards
4. Churches
5. LOVE
Appalachia reminds me of:
1. music
2. rocking chairs
3. jarred fruits in stream pantries
4. hollers
5. graves covered with stones
I write from the cement city of Detroit, MI.
sarah
I just found your blog – and I love it – great music too!
1. blue misty mountains
2. fall trips on the parkway
3. the Hemlock Inn
4. Quilts by Ella Jo Shell
5. getting lost in Linville gorge
1. mountains
2. Shakespeare, thanks to a
college English professor
3. the Foxfire series, which
honestly, is in my house but
largely unread, and possibly
not even about Appalachia!
4. moonshine (thanks or not to
the song Rocky Top)
5. music
Love your blog! LOVE the music. Here are 5 for you:
1. cloggin’
2. quiltin’
3. telling stories
4. tubin’ down the river
5. bluegrass music
I volunteered at a Midwifery Clinic in the Appalachians in the late 1970’s. It’s a very different way of life, not all caused by poverty. My 5 words are:
1. Family
2. Soft spoken
3. Religious experience
4. Natural
5. Shy
1. mountains
2. coal mines
3. heart of old timey music
4. quilts
5. poverty
sorry about that last one, but it is what came to mind. my husband is a banjo…bobanjo…has been playing since he was 12 and he just turned the big 50. i really like your site. spent past 35 years on kauai and now i live in the upper pennisula of michigan which is isolated in its own way but at least you can get in your car and go…not like on kauai where you are captive
Okay, I’m finally catching up to what I’ve been missing 😉
1. Barefoot children
2. Fiddles and banjos (is that
two?)
3. Thick, southern accents
4. Crafters and artisans
5. Old farmhouses
1. The tears I cry each time I leave.
2. My PawPaw’s canned green beans.
3. Cornbread crumbled in buttermilk.
4. Coon/hog dogs baying through the foothills.
5. Snuff & old coffee cans.
1. Tears(the ones I cry every time I leave)
2. Home canned green beans
3. Cornbread crumbled in a glass of buttermilk
4. My family
5. Spitting snuff (my great granny & all of my aunts)
My list of 5:
rocking chair
liver mush
sourwood honey on biscuits
Bluegrass
small waterfalls coming out of mountain rocks
And then there is:
the smokehouse
chickens
sweet smell of hay in the barn
cornbread (Granny soaked hers in buttermilk)
Sorry, that is more than five. 🙂
the first things that come to mind when I think of Appalachia are
1) the Foxfire books
2)mist in the mornings
3)walking trails
4)old homesteads
5)home made soap cooked in a kettle, quilts and rag rugs and home baked bread
Tipper, I like your comments and thinking about the Montgomery article, pretty insightful. My first two thoughts were identical to yours. I thought of barn before I scrolled down and so you had that association. My next association is the movie Deliverance. How depressing and inaccurate is that!? Number four would be home cooking, and number five coal mining. I guess that last one is Appalachia, just not our Appalachia.
1) laundry on the line
2) mountain music
3) old barns
4) farms in the valley
5) squeaky screen doors