by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Apr 29, 2019 | Church, Family, Love, Memories
On Saturday, my husband and I celebrated 23 years of marriage. That means, as of next year, I will have been married for half my life. My wedding day feels like yesterday AND a lifetime ago. It wasn’t fancy–shoot, it was in the (literally) one-room country...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Apr 15, 2019 | Appalachian, Family, Food, Hiking, Writing
My older brother and his family came to the mountains from their home on the coast of South Carolina for spring break. Of course, dogwood winter showed up to greet them with a blast of cold air that pretty well froze their thin, southern blood! Nevertheless, we got...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Mar 28, 2019 | Appalachian, Family, Nature, superstition
It’s finally March and while we still have redbud, dogwood, and blackberry winters to go (at a minimum), country folks are thinking about plowing the garden. When I was a kid my father and one of the more mature ladies of the church would have pretty much the same...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Mar 21, 2019 | Appalachian, Family, History, superstition
North America has Bigfoot. Nepal has the Abominable Snowman. Ireland their Banshees. Everywhere you go, there are monster stories. Well, West Virginia is not one to be left out. My home state has several mythical monsters of its own. Our uniquely Appalachian monsters...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Mar 18, 2019 | Appalachian, Family, Memories, Writing
The Appalachian Studies Association held their annual conference in Asheville this past weekend. Can you believe it? An entire association dedicated to the study of Appalachia. While I didn’t have a chance to go to the full conference, I was able to attend the...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Mar 7, 2019 | Appalachian, Family, Nature
I got to spend a few days last week back home at the farm in West Virginia. While trips are usually steeped in family time, I did have a solitary morning to soak in the peace. I thought you might like a little dose of that as well . . . Just me, the morning mist, and...
