Eating Our Way Around Asheville

Posted in Food, Outdoors & Travel on May 30th, 2011 by marklynn
Eating Our Way Around Asheville
With a doggie in the backseat and an old time gospel tune on our tongues, Ryan and I drove past the long arm of DC this week and into the waiting mountains. Our destination was further afield than usual. We barreled past Harrisonburg, past Staunton, past Lexington, and into the familiar terrain of the Roanoke Valley, where we stopped long enough for big hugs from Mother. It was a quick visit–20 minutes tops–and we were back on I-81. Read More »


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EmmyLou Harris and RFK Jr. at Blair Mountain

Posted in Coal, History & Culture, Outdoors & Travel on May 22nd, 2011 by marklynn
EmmyLou Harris and RFK Jr. at Blair Mountain
County deputies fire on miners from a Blair Mountain bluff in 1921. You may remember that big coal is trying to blow apart Blair Mountain. This is the site of the largest armed insurrection in the United States since the Civil War. From the mountain’s cliffs, as many as 15,000 coal miners took on corrupt coal operators; their hired militia; and, in the end, the United States Army. This was back in 1921, when workers had to wage literal wa Read More »


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Battle the Alien Ooze: Defend Native Plants

Posted in Outdoors & Travel on May 15th, 2011 by marklynn
Battle the Alien Ooze: Defend Native Plants
Think back to the last time you placed a honeysuckle blossom between your front teeth. You bit off its end, and the flower’s severed tip tickled your tongue. You spit this piece into the grass. Then you put the blossom back into your mouth to draw out the sweet, slow nectar. It tasted a little like honey, a little like corn syrup, but it was just a dribble. The first flower is never enough, so you reached for another, then a third. Yo Read More »


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Hillbillies Get Their Dues

Posted in Music on May 7th, 2011 by marklynn
Hillbillies Get Their Dues
It’s no secret that the roots revival is built on hillbilly shoulders. Just listen to great new bands like Fleet Foxes, The Low Anthem, and Carolina Chocolate Drops. They all draw from musical forms that were either created in the Appalachians or that endured there because mountain people were just so isolated. Well, our hillbilly forbearers are finally getting their dues. The folks who created the Crooked Road-a 300 mile musical heritage Read More »


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