Brian and I are taking a much-needed few days away from our beloved Pensacola, Florida to refill our " cups" in the Alabama Appalachian Mountains.
Brian did not want to deal with Atlanta traffic, so we are staying in a VRBO cabin in unincorporated Blount County, Alabama.
Yes, friends, Alabama has some mountains. {technically foothills, but true elevation}
Today we drove to the top of Ebell Mountain, and hiked some easy trails around the park that is situated there.
Friends, it felt so damn GOOD to be on some ancient rocks and soil of the Appalachian Mountains. I love living in Pensacola, and {for many reasons} I never want to return to where I grew up but this dark soil of these ancient rocks that comprise these Appalachians is part of one's DNA.
Pensacola is home, I'll stay there for the remaining years I have on Earth. Yet my soul longs to hike elevation: particularly the elevation that reminds me so closely of my youth. For me, the BEST ting about growing up where I did is the biodiversity-- especially the biodiversity of the plant life.
Granted, the Appalachian Mountains are not homogenous. I am from the " ridge-and-valley Appalachians, and in Blount County, Alabama, there are technically foothills. At any rate, it is NOT sea level.
Brian mentioned at the amount of poverty we saw as we drove through Alabama north of Birmingham. I remarked that poverty is something that Appalachians have dealt with since the first White people settled in these woods. I might have grown up solidly middle-class, but poverty was a reality that affected many of my schoolmates. Poverty is a uniting factor in a diverse Appalachian- American population. One need not grow up poor to see how the poorest Americans struggle.
I also understand that Appalachian Americans are some of the hardest-working, big-hearted people I've known. My understanding and love for these people-- my people-- is why I am wary of the stereotypes that the media {TV and movies, especially} portray the people of this region.
Do I think Appalachia is a utopia. NO! {I've never voted like most {almost all} rural Appalachians. Are there some real social problems here? Yes!
I feel blessed to be able to spend a few days each year in these old mountains.
Appalachian Americans are born, not made.
Sarah Beth McCarren
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