One Big Mud Hole

 

My property is one big mud hole. When we take a break in January from our social media there are actually 2 reasons. In the last couple of years it is like the winter cold creeps into every bone in my body. I don’t know if it is an age thing or a Multiple Sclerosis thing. Either way it exacts a toll that I am loath to pay. The second reason is that in January the sun is seldom out here. Often 4 days out of the week we are getting some kind of precipitation. Thus filming is a hard thing to accomplish when the ground is just saturated. So, I never know if I can stay busy enough to get something on video every week.

So far this January we have received 5.0 inches of rain by my rain gauge, as of January 22^nd and it is raining again.  So that is over an inch per week. Also our Max Temperature this January has been 66 degrees F and our minimum has been 22F. So nothing is freezing much and nothing is drying out much so the ground is an absolute mud hole. We have plenty of medium size cattle farmers that bring their cattle in close for winter to make the feeding easier. In good cold winters they do okay on the frozen ground but in this weather the poor things are in the mud with the farmers having to move them or put down straw or hay for them to lay on. So, needless to say, it is tough on the livestock and the farmers here in Paint Lick.

Today as I post this it is March 8th and this has been the warmest February we have ever had. March 4th was an 80 degree day. The warmest winter day temp. We also had like 18 days with no freezing temperatures. From Feb 4th to Feb 28th we only had one day of 30 degrees lows, everything else was above. I hope the bugs are not terrible this year on my little garden. 

I woke up at 5 am this morning with nothing particular on my mind except my brain was singing “We All Live In a Yellow Submarine.” I don’t care much for the Beetles music, it was just never my thing. But, every time my brain wants me to be awake it starts singing that tune and will not turn off until I get up out of the bed. I have come to despise that melody. Here I am typing at 5:40 am instead of being in the bed in the world of dreamland. In the summer waking at this time of morning is a blessing. I seldom ever set an alarm clock any more. I remember being a teenager and could sleep till noon. Now if I tried such a thing I would have to call my neighbors to come and help me out of bed. My knees would be hurting so bad it would not be good. About 6 or 7 hours is all I get these days, but that appears to be enough for me.

I know this blog post is winding. I really want to convey some great wisdom but I just don’t have any this morning. Well maybe I have this – When life tries to hold you down force yourself to get up. Your will can be stronger than most foes. Never let the Ba$!@&# win that battle. – That being said, allow yourself to be sick when you are sick. Don’t do dumb stuff that can get you hurt. Question everything your parents thought and told you to think, keep the good stuff and discard the worthless stuff. My parents believed some worthless stuff. They had the wisdom of the ages and were pretty smart folks. But, some of the things they thought were not conducive to success. They were often happy with just getting by.

Now Dad was an electrician and worked in the coal mines as well as side jobs wiring houses and doing other stuff. Mining requires that type of work ethic. Sometimes the mines were working 7 days a week or they were laid off for months at a time. It is just a lifestyle in Appalachia that miners and their families had to get used too. They oft said this lifestyle was feast or famine. I actually know a few miners that never got laid off. It is just the luck of the draw. But this lifestyle leads to a way of thinking that I just never could have. The companies and the bosses would treat their men like crap and expect them to be grateful they had a job. Many families fell into this trap and would not search to see if there was anything better. They would receive the same treatment year in and year out and their sons and daughters would follow them into the same system and they would either adapt to the same “grateful” mindset or they had to leave the area. Hence, Harlan County population declined by 75% from 1950-1990.

 Mom adapted that same grateful attitude. But, for her that happened latter in life. When she was younger she was willing to stand up and whip a bear with a switch. She did just that to a state trooper in 1973 during the Brookside strike against Eastover Mining Company. The state troopers were sent by the governor to escort scabs, replacement workers, onto the mine property and oppose the men striking. Now our little state police post never had more than 19 troopers total for 3 counties all 3 shifts, but during the strike there were 50 or more there. They were sent for one purpose to break the United Mine Workers Strike at Eastover Mining Company. It is a tough thing when your own elected officials stand with your employer instead of you. Anyway, one fateful morning mom and the other wives were on the picket line because the courts had limited the men to only 3 picketers at a time. The police came to escort the workers through the picket line but the women blocked the road.

Mom said that when The State Police Captain approached he had his baton draw and was walking toward them and at that moment something in her snapped and she had a thumb thick willow limb in her hand. She said she began hitting him with that switch and the other women joined in and had the man down on the ground just laying it on him. She said at one point she felt sorry for him but that quickly faded as dozens of other troopers rushed forward batons drawn. It was a free for all. Many came away with head thumps and other injuries. Many of the troopers had lashes from those willow limbs. But no scabs made it to work that day.

I know how big the limbs were. I cut them off of a willow tree next to our creek bank myself. I was 10 years old and could climb that tree like a monkey. I killed that tree in 1973 harvesting switches for the strike and would do it again today. The data suggests that wages and standard of living were higher when union membership was higher. As union membership has dwindled so has the workers standard of living.

That was a tumultuous time in my family’s life and as mom got older she said she would never go through that again. There are a lot of things I would never go through as well at my age. My mental state, nor my health, would hold up. So I understand her statement. She was young, 39, her family was young and she was standing up for her family. Once you get older you are just trying your best to get to a place of peace, and for her, make it into heaven. That mellows you considerably. I am there too. There are lots of causes that I am for but I am just to the point that I can’t fight any more. Fighting is for the young. Stand Up!!!

I hope this finds you well. Send up a prayer for us and we will send up one for you. I love and miss my parents now going on 26 yrs for Dad and 20 yrs for Mom. How could it be that long? And the answer is we got here one day at a time, and that is how we will face our future, one day at a time. However, a little planning never hurt nobody. But, try to remember as the years stretch on that Life, Like Homesteading is a Marathon Not a Sprint – Slow Down and Enjoy the Ride.    

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