Mustard with Jazz Hands

John gets full credit for the title of this blog even though he doesn’t remember uttering the phrase “jazz hands.” It was an observation made over a week ago about an enthusiastic waitress at a Chinese-Thai restaurant outside of Berea, Kentucky who delivered the squeeze bottle of hot mustard with flair.

I almost did a spit take with my Pad Thai. Read more…

A Miner’s Story

George “Aaron” Leath was born and raised in Harlan County, Kentucky – the heart of the US coal mining industry.

His father is a coal miner.

His grandfather is retired from working the mines. An oxygen tank in the living room is a reminder of years underground; Black Lung disease has ravaged his chest and makes it difficult for him to breathe. Read more…

Willing and Able

Looking for work these days can be a challenge for anyone. In the past year Harlan County, Kentucky has already seen a coal mine and several department stores shut down, and there are rumors of future layoffs at area coal mines.

With fewer places hiring and fierce competition for limited spaces, imagine what it must be like for people who are already perceived as disadvantaged because of a physical, mental or emotional disability? Read more…

Free Cookies and WiFi

The last time I wrote here I was at home in Jonesville, Virginia and was thinking about the ease and comfort of being in a place you know. That’s changed.

We hit the road less than a week ago but we’ve already been deep into unfamiliar territory. I’ve been to these parts of eastern Kentucky before, but never like this. We’re seeing the places and the people I would usually zoom by at 70 miles per hour. And we’ve become again the faceless, forgettable people who “aren’t from here.” Everybody’s a stranger and every turn is undiscovered country. As much as I enjoyed being home and rooted, life on the road ain’t bad either. Read more…

Blazing Trails: From Coal Mines to ATV Tourism in Kentucky

In rural southeastern Kentucky, the hills have always provided. Timber harvesting employed thousands when it began in earnest after the Civil War. Not long after, massive mines began to define this area as “coal country.”

Until late in the twentieth century, those industries gave this part of Kentucky much of its identity and livelihood. Today, both are in decline and employ a fraction of the workforce they saw at their peak. Read more…

Stronger than Sallet

The sign posted along Highway 119 proudly announced the 54th Annual Poke Sallet Festival would be coming to downtown Harlan, Kentucky on June 4-6th. This prompted an immediate Internet search on my BlackBerry. Read more…

Family Farm 2.0

Mike Watson grew up on a family farm in rural southwestern Virginia. Having made a career at the electric company, he never imagined himself – let alone his children and grandchildren – back on that farm. Read more…

Until the Storm Passes

The rain keeps falling but it has not kept the birds outside my window from their early morning revelry. As I sit safe and dry, listening to the drops pound against the roof, I wonder what exactly these little creatures have to sing about while stuck in the treetops, their flights delayed? Read more…

After Tobacco: In Appalachia, Farmers Hope the Future is Organic Vegetables

This still looks like tobacco country. Tractors still slow traffic on the roads. An autumn celebration is still called the “Tobacco Festival.” And family farms still have the region’s trademark tall barns where the harvest’s giant green leaves once cured in the rafters until they were rusty brown and ready for market.

But despite decades of tradition, tobacco farming is on the wane in Appalachia. The elimination of government price supports and increased costs of production have prompted many tobacco growers to seek out new crops in order to get by. What some have found may change the face of agriculture in this remote region. Read more…

The Last Man in the Mountain

You’ve heard of the “Old Man in the Mountain,” the giant stone face that fell off its New Hampshire perch in 2003. But have you heard of “Stone Face Rock?”

Tucked away in the mouth of a cramped mountain pass near Pennington Gap in southwestern Virginia, this naturally face-shaped outcropping looms just 150 feet above the road that passes directly underneath. It enjoys far less fame than its former rival up north, but it is equally impressive. Read more…

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