The post I shared about ramps earlier this week stirred my memories of folks who attempt to keep their favorite ramp patch secret from others.
I’ve always enjoyed being in on a secret and I’ve always been good at keeping them… well except the time Granny told me not to tell Pap how much she spent on a rubber tree plant. I met him at the door to let him know exactly how much it cost 🙂
But there are secrets I’ve kept for over 30 years or more. I take delight in knowing I was faithful to the person who trusted me, even though revealing most of the secrets wouldn’t amount to a hill of beans today.
Other secret locations you might hear one speak of in the mountains of Appalachia are related to fishing and ginseng.
Favorite fishing holes are kept close to the vest. The Deer Hunter has a few buddies who almost stoop to blindfolding their guests to protect their secret fishing spots.
My brother, Steve, used to hunt ginseng to make extra money when he was in high school. People like to keep their favorite sanging patch on the down low. I’ve heard a few folks say they knew where the mother load of ginseng was, but of course they weren’t sharing any details.
Back in the day, before kids, The Deer Hunter and I did lots of riding horses and camping. One memorable trip was in Transylvania County NC way back in the mountains.
It was about mid-week and we hadn’t seen a soul since we’d been there. We were riding single file up an old roadbed that had weeds as high as the horses’ withers when suddenly we heard two sharp whistles, one off the side of the mountain, and one on the ridge above us.
Just as I was about to wonder aloud who it was The Deer Hunter turned both horses sharply around and headed back the way we had come at a good trot. As we reached the bottom of the mountain, he finally stopped to explain. The whistles were used as warning signals by folks who were participating in illegal activities in the secret places of the wilderness area.
Sixteen years ago Paul and our nephew Ben uploaded a cover of “Secret Agent Man.”
While I want no part of nefarious secrets I sure do enjoy hearing Paul singing about a secret agent man 🙂
Last night’s video: Matt is King for 25 Minutes (Deciding What to Plant).
Tipper
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Turkey hunters, like my hubby, always keep the location of any gobbler they may roost the evening before a hunting trip, a big secret.
Here it’s definitely fishing holes. Also places to hunt elk. I can’t forget to mention huckleberry patches!
I can’t believe I never looked into the blind pig and the acorn before now!!! My family used to jam and play Jimmy Rogers tunes when I was growing up. All around the water tank was a favorite. Made me cry when I heard it. I’ll be tuning in for sure.
My uncle Jesse Everett (middle name) was a gingsing hunter. He kept his places a well guarded secret. He could always find morel mushrooms too; whole baskets of them! Dad said he could smell them lol! Don’t you just love his name?!
We’ve had the same problem with swimming holes and spots to sneak off in the woods for some solitude over here in Haywood. After social media gained popularity you can’t hardly find a decent spot that isn’t overrun with people…unless you’re blessed with your own wooded land. Back when I was growing up and even into my 20s we could drive up Sunburst or up to what we call “the slidey rocks” and you might run into a few other locals but that’s about it. Now people have let the cat outta the bag and posted the locations online and you can’t go anywhere like that for some peace and solitude without it being slam full of tourists. Don’t get me wrong I know we need the tourist industry around here and I don’t blame people for wanting to experience this beautiful land we call home, but its just sad that all of our special spots have been exposed.
Cassie, I can’t say I ever had any real secret spots like you mentioned, but back in my past days there could be places like some of these you mentioned that people of the community could go and enjoy and would take care of, now it won’t be long for places like these to be trashed up and have graffiti spray painted on everything and will soon ruin it for everyone. Not trying to toot my own horn, but when I was a teenager along with my best friend, we had permission to hunt, fish or just play/hang out on all of our neighbors land. We had proven to them we could be trusted and would not trash, tear up their property or shoot anything except for whatever we were hunting. When we would leave, we left nothing but footprints behind, no even an empty shotgun hull.
Oh my – Tipper – you & Matt’s horseback trip and hearing those whistles took me to a memory I grew up hearing about but had long forgotten to way back in the days of ‘prohibition’ when an uncle by marriage used to be involved in illegal running of alcohol – in fact there is a book called ‘Rum Runner’ that tells his tale. Since this was on the coastal waters of British Columbia, Canada it was all done by a small boat. Paul’s Secret Agent Man also took me back in time. Was there not also a series by the same name at one time, or it was the theme song for some series? Happy gardening!!!
Not all that long ago, turkey hunters kept individual gobblers real close, if they could find one to hunt. Today, we’ve got plenty of birds, yet license and permit sales are slipping. The old-time “turkey men” are dying out and I guess the majority of the new generation are playing computer games.
Gene, you know I was a bird hunter. One of the worst things that anyone could do was for someone you had taken hunting with you to go back and shoot/hunt your birds and the places you had hunted without you.
It’s a good thing the hoodlums around here don’t know what ramps are, or they would sneak in and dig them like they do my sang. If someone tells me something and asks me not to repeat it, they know the secret will never cross my lips. I used to tell my young grandsons secrets, and they loved them. It might be something as simple as Nanny is going to bake a chocolate cake for dessert. My oldest daughter has heard horror stories at her job about kids who are told to keep secrets. She asked me to stop allowing them to believe secrets are fun and games.
Norman, I already prayed for you. Don’t worry, everything is going to be okay.
I’m taking a big chance with my “secret stash” here, but there are a couple old, old cemeteries, off the beaten path, in my county that have wild asparagus growing all along the edges. A LOT of asparagus, as in I get 4 or 5 pounds of the stuff every spring, and that’s less than half the number of shoots. I’m sure they started out as family burial plots on now long-abandoned farms and the cultivated stuff just kept dropping seeds over the decades resulting in the bounty I enjoy today.
Same with wild raspberries, blackberries and hickory nuts (although different cemeteries). I love living in a rural area!
Speaking of secrets, how about those ‘open secrets’ that were never especially concealed but very few know. I mean those talents, interests, experiences that people we think we know have and had but we had no idea. If I live to be a hundred, I’ll never cease to be amazed. It has been a long slow process but I’ll say now I don’t know anybody quite as well as I think I do. Even after over 10 years visiting here at BP&A I do not recall ever reading before that you two were horse campers. And that is just about visible things. I’m prepared to say as the psalmist did that we “are fearfully and wonderfully made”. But I hesitate to say, as he did, that I know it “right well”. There has been, or is, more to each one I have “known” than I ever “knew”. Which reminds me of that mysterious bible verse ” we shall know as we are known”.
I have some deep dark secrets but none have reached the point of being nefarious. Surreptitious maybe but never nefarious. Possibly furtive? I don’t really don’t know what none of them there words mean so I don’t really know what I’m talking about.
Close call! I’m glad Matt knew what those whistles meant! We have a wonderful picture book called The Secret Garden of GeorgeWashington Carver that tells how he used to keep his secret garden to learn all about plants and flowers and continued to keep a little secret garden even after everyone knew who he was and his brilliance with plants. It’s a favorite. I’d love to stumble upon a secret berry patch to keep to myself!
I have read two stories of people doing things to keep it secret, one was of a man that would fish on lakes coming back to the dock in the opposite direction from where he had been fishing and tying a different lure than he had been using on his reels before coming in. Another was a signal of a moonshiner, he would have his wife hang a white sheet on their clothes line if any strange cars came by their house when he was running his still. He could see the spot of white from his still. I guess all cars had to pass his house.
Secret Agent Man is one of my favorite songs from the 60’s.
I imagine those old mountains hold plenty of secrets. I agree, the nefarious ones I can do without.
good morning friend will you pray for me today, I have a tumor on my gum, an ulcer, I don’t think it’s an abscess, pray that it’s not cancer, I’ve been using dip, smokeless tobacco since I quit smoking, God help, thank you for praying friends God bless you very much, I’m going to see a doctor but I don’t think very much of that doctor, God help, praise God community helping place furnish my transportation, God bless community helping place
Norman, I will pray for you.
Wash your mouth out with warm salt water rinses about 3 or 4 times a day after eating and drinking. I will pray for you friend that you get a complete healing in Jesus’ name!!! Amen I believe in the GREAT PHYSICIAN myself. You could always do a round of ivermectin from Tractor Supply to kill any tumors…and please dip mint “snuff” the good stuff… I hope this helps you Norman…
Prayed already for healing, well-being, and a good diagnosis. Thanks be that you’ve got supportive community.
Norman, I just prayed for you. We will trust the kind & merciful Lord that everything will be ok.
I’ll pray for you Norman.
“And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” John 14:13
Boy howdy, that’s some mighty fine pickin! Tipper, me neither. I want no part in any sketchy, undercover doins! I have never hunted sang, but we watched a show that did. Some things seemed a bit far fetched, but I’m sure people get heated over property rights and thinking it’s their own patch.
Nice picture of you and the horses! Our daughter now owns the horse she showed in her youth. He is around 29 years old and still a beauty.
if you don’t keep mushrooms, ramps and fishing spots secret, your never get to enjoy them again.