Wheres Alice? We may need her.

I'm glad everyone likes Alice. I will write more on Alice as there is much more to know. She was the illegitimate daughter of a very very wealthy man in these parts. I have not touched on my grandfather or his father who was bushwhacked and killed resulting in him inheriting the farm. Murder and intrigue abound in the lives of these people. I best stop here or i will give too much away. Alice deserves a book really.

Alice is still alive. You just need to look for her.

I live in a very rural farming area of NY. There are literally dozens of Alice's living around here. Yes some are men, but you would be amazed if you lived here.

A lady down the road is at death's door, her husband died a year ago, yet if you look on her porch you will find bushels of fresh vegies and fruit that will soon be turned into meals that go to the poor. She continues to add to her canned food collection that as she says will last a family of four about seven years.

There are any number of mechanics locally that can turn the rustiest piece of old iron into some part to repair a piece of farm machinery. You should hear them laugh at new cars, 'what junk' they say. (my car is 32 years old and runs like new thanks to them)

There are 65 year old carpenters still climbing onto steep roofs to put down new steel roofing.

I'm sure there are a few alcohol stills about. I've tasted the product of one.

Yes Alice is still alive in the country. I don't know about the city.

reply to post by jimmiec


Keep writing more about Alice....I have found it a bit sad how so many people (not on ATS) lump negative stereotypes to the people of the Appalachias.

They don't recognize their struggles, the isolation, the melting pot of cultures.....and how these people were stripped of their resources and forced to work on slave wages that rival some undeveloped African countries...even today I have family who do missonary work and gets supplies to the families of these people who still live in horrible poverty.

Originally posted by kat2684

They don't recognize their struggles, the isolation, the melting pot of cultures.....and how these people were stripped of their resources and forced to work on slave wages that rival some undeveloped African countries...even today I have family who do missonary work and gets supplies to the families of these people who still live in horrible poverty.

I am from the uk that sounds terrible what happened to these people

reply to post by denver22


It was.

The mining companies did not pay them in cash....so they couldn't leave the mines or their familes would be destroyed. A script was a fraction of our dollar and were only used for store credits so the men were forced into the mines paying for goods that were marked higher then price value.....at the mining company stores ....they spent long hours within these mines....

And so goes the saying and in a song "I sold my soul to the company store"

Originally posted by honested3
reply to post by Sinny

 

i couldnt agree with you more. lately this year ive noticed myself more and more stopping and realizing "my thoughts arent my own". when i was younger i felt like an individual, felt like i had the world figured out and maybe im getting dumber, maybe im just getting older, but i feel like a manufactured person, like im not real or something. i feel like im drowning in an ocean, where ill occassionally get a breath of "air" and have clear thoughts, but quickly back into the ocean of a mind controlled brainwashed existance. its like i live for the quick passing material pleasures. its sad i almost wish i wouldnt know, because i feel too stupid to free myself from it, only "smart" enough to occassionally recognize it till the next commercial comes on or the next big "thing" sigh, what does it all mean?

And does this feeling make you want to escape that "ocean of a mind-controlled brainwashed existence"?

It's not a matter of being smart enough to free yourself. It's a matter of determining in yourself that you will not settle for anything less than the truth about yourself and your existence. "Why am I here?" is a great question to start with, and you will never find the absolute end to that answer. However it will lead you out of the morass of mind-controlled thought and into the world of kooks and nutters. If pursued with single-minded intent, it will lead you to your maker (who is only a breath away from you even now).

So kill your television and begin the great journey. Seek answers rather than comfort. It's all there, waiting for you to be ready to embrace it.

See the links in my sig for some more information.

B

I was very pleased and inspired to see your post.. What you are saying is we are dependent on the system that has been put together. I remember as a child only 30 years ago that my summer days were filled with climbing the fruit trees and working in the garden. We grew 75 percent or more of the fruits and vegetables in our diet. My daddy had a 1 acre garden that would make most children today cry if they had to work in it. Raised some of our own animals to slaughter. After weeding the garden all summer fall was filled with canning. We spent hours in the kitchen boiling and blanching vegetables to put away for winter. We had a root cellar and mom made bread 3 or 4 times a week. When I grew older I moved away from all of those things when I had children and started my career. Today I am a middle aged woman who has earned a 6 figure salary and has re-educated myself to what my mom and grandma did. I have taught my children how to garden and can and we are raising a small selection of animals so they learn the skills. I am not suggesting that everyone do these things but rather educate yourself on one thing that you can use to survive when the society as we know it breaks down and you can not get your food off of a shelf or out of a cooler anymore. With only one skill you will be able to survive by trading. I pray that all people wake up and realize we have set up our lives up on top of house of cards and with one strong wind it can and will collapse all around and under us.

So Alice was an Amish woman, there's still plenty of them around.

reply to post by jimmiec


I grew up in the same way, just a few miles north of where you describe Alice as having lived. A cabin in the hills, no running water - well, you 'ran' outside to get it! Took baths in a tin bathtub that hung on the side of the house when not in use. Heated the water for them in a two bushel galvanized tub on a wood fired stove. Had an outhouse out back. Dark nights were not as unpleasant as winter nights were for outhouse visits!

Those were NOT the days!

My dad taught me how to farm with horses and no machinery. main source of heat was a wood stove in the living room. We hunted, fished, gathered wild plants stuff (greens, fruit,roots, etc), and raised food critters, mostly hogs and chickens. Mostly chickens. I hate eating chicken to this very day. We built a small forge, and did our own blacksmithing and farrier work. Everything from making the horse shoes to putting them on.

It never fails to amaze me how badly people now freak out over a little thing like a power outage. What the hell would they do if they could EXPECT a power outage every time a stiff wind blew? I did a lot of homework by an oil lamp. How many houses even have one now?

I wouldn't want to live like that again, but I know that I can if I have to. I already have. Most folks, around here where I live now any how, will die when the crunch comes. They will die of sheer stupidity. Notice I said stupidity, and not ignorance. Ignorance can be cured with just a little learning. Stupidity can not, and is very frequently a fatal condition. That's ok, though. It will improve the gene pool, raise the general intelligence level, and leave more resources for me, and others who know what to do with them.

I just hope my share of the resources isn't chickens. If it is, however, I'll eat the damned things. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

Here's the immediate area where I grew up. The site of my cabin is in it, but don't bother trying to find it. You won't.

reply to post by nenothtu


I claim you for my clan when TSHTF.....

My mountain top is nice too. Deep well, spring fed pond, creek for panning gold, and a healthy herd of goats.

I'll throw in a goat to sweeten the deal.....





Des

Originally posted by jimmiec
I'm glad everyone likes Alice. I will write more on Alice as there is much more to know. She was the illegitimate daughter of a very very wealthy man in these parts. I have not touched on my grandfather or his father who was bushwhacked and killed resulting in him inheriting the farm. Murder and intrigue abound in the lives of these people. I best stop here or i will give too much away. Alice deserves a book really.

That's a fact! I can recall a blood feud between two families that was still going on right into the mid-80's when I left the area. Fighting your way through ambushes or dying where you stood was the order of the day for some folks.

You ought to do the book.

reply to post by Destinyone


Believe it or not, the mountain top I took that picture from had a small herd of wild goats - or more properly feral goats - living on it. They lived like deer and tasted a whole lot like deer, too! Not gonna eat your goats, though - I understand you've got other uses for them.

I'm in! I'll be heading back home for good before long. I'm looking at the next couple of weeks to get it done. I expect things to get mighty dicey around here before long, and this ain't gonna be no kind of place to be.

I actually posted Alice II. A little about her husband if you can find it. I have decided to write a book about them. It will take some research but my aunts and uncles are still alive. In their 80's but still spread out on the homestead.

Originally posted by kat2684
reply to post by denver22

 

It was.

The mining companies did not pay them in cash....so they couldn't leave the mines or their familes would be destroyed. A script was a fraction of our dollar and were only used for store credits so the men were forced into the mines paying for goods that were marked higher then price value.....at the mining company stores ....they spent long hours within these mines....

And so goes the saying and in a song "I sold my soul to the company store"

Scrip was useless anywhere but the company stores. It wasn't like real money. In most mining towns, the company owned all the housing, too. They could toss you out into the streets on a whim. Those days are long gone, though. Company stores are gone, scrip is gone, and company towns are gone. The houses are still there, looking like they were all made with the same mold, house after house, but are all privately owned now.

All that is gone now, but the people remain... and always will. They're a pretty tough bunch.

Tough is right! I talked to a local preacher last month. He knew my grandfather from his later years. He said papaw told him he heard revenuers up on the ridge where his still was one day. He got his rifle and started shooting into the trees and scared them off. He and my grandmother did not get along after he took to sippin his moonshine. More than once Alice would head to the tobacco field and papaw would shoot at her (he was a crack shot) intentionally missing her but coming close. She never so much as flinched.