by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Jan 24, 2020 | Appalachian, History, Nature
Ever have one of those weeks when you can’t keep track of what day it is? Yeah, me too. Wild azalea (often called honeysuckle bythe old timers) with mountain laurel inthe background. On January 23, 1903–117 years ago–the Legislature of West Virginia passed a...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Jan 16, 2020 | Appalachian, Writing
If you haven’t caught on yet, I LOVE these Appalachian Mountains. And my hope is that when I write about Appalachia in my books the sense of place is so strong it’s practically its own character. I even go so far as to lead a workshop about “Setting...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Jan 9, 2020 | Appalachian, Family, Food
My great-grandmother was on the sustainable eating bandwagon before it was even a thing. Of course, she called it “surviving.” She mostly ate what the family grew, foraged, or hunted. They took what they needed with a little extra to “lay by.”...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Jan 2, 2020 | Appalachian, History, holidays
We’ve rung in the new year and Christmas is over . . . or is it? I’ve written before about Old Christmas–the mountain tradition of celebrating the holiday on January 6 due to some calendar confusion dating back hundreds of years. But there’s...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Dec 30, 2019 | Appalachian, holidays, superstition
I’ve written in previous posts about new year’s traditions like first-footing and eating lucky foods. But do you know about blowing out the old for the new year? The idea is to throw open all the doors and windows in the house just before midnight so that...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Dec 19, 2019 | Appalachian, Writing
I’m looking at updating my website and I’m trying to be intentional and thoughtful about it. I’ve already switched up my header and I’ve taken the first steps toward developing a shinier, sharper, more professional site. As part of that...
