Thursday, August 27, 2015

Appalachian Beauty

The more prejudice I faced because of where I was from, the prouder I became of that place. Once I was on the road, at a booksigning, and a woman asked me why I loved Appalachia so much. I said, “Because when you are from a place and a people you have to defend all the time, that makes you love them that much more."
~Silas House


I had a hard time figuring out what to feature for Art Thursday this week. I wanted to do something in honor of the Roanoke, VA WDBJ journalists. A very sweet high school classmate of mine used to work at that station. Peace seemed like a good subject, but I have talked about peace before (more than once!). I wound up deciding to spotlight Appalachia in general.

McAfee Knob
by Seuss

Appalachian Trail
by Frank Kehren

Walls of Appalachia
by Sathish J

Plethodon glutinosus
by squamatologist

Thurmond Depot
by Frank Kehren

Pools
by Aaron Knox

Links to previous Appalachia-related posts:

* She Lives
* Still
* The Mountain Music Project
* Appalachian Spring

2 comments:

Linda B said...

I wish (hope) that we as a country can try hard to solve the gun problem. It is troubling that we spend more time in conflict with sex issues than violence. The pictures are so beautiful, Tabatha, those 'walls'-wow. I have only been to Appalachia one, driving through to another destination. It was a drive to remember. Thank you!

Pop said...


Since I lived in Appalachia (in Blacksburg, Virginia, specifically) for almost 45 years, these photos have a special meaning for me. It is beautiful, as you can see, and becomes a part of you even when you move away.

The killings near Smith Mountain Lake were one more instance of someone wanting to solve a problem with a gun. Until we grow up as a nation and ban handguns and semi-automatic rifles, these events will continue. And we shall cry once more.