A Country Rag--Country Talk
Click here for Next Section
(Listings For Appalachia)

rabbit: wild, indigenous animal species that loves to run and play, nibble and observe, investigate and breed on open country fields A Country Rag Country Talk

Add your favorite country expression button



cave




graphic: Sand Cave, Cumberland Mountains, Virginia
Photo by Annette Sorah, Vienna, VA









When Grandma was Green

by Kim Upton (aka Hillbilly Mystic)

As I child I grew up in a very small farming community. There were party-line phones, fresh milk from the local dairy and “old-fashioned” church picnics. If you had something that wasn’t being used, you passed it on to the next family. Very little went to waste, and many things were reused until they fell apart.
The older women in the community taught me the skills I have today. Many times they would share wonderful stories of survival – living through the great depression, how their “Ma” grew up in a cabin down the holler, or what they did to make sure their Grandkids went to college.
That was back when Grandmas were Green. As odd as it may sound, many of our recent ancestors were the forerunners of the green movement you see today. How did they do it? What made them so “green,” anyway? Living thrifty, that’s how! If you planned on surviving, as many of them did, you had to change the way you viewed life. Everything had a use. The morning breakfast was salvaged for snacks and lunchboxes, and much of what you had eaten came from the backyard garden. New items were never purchased unless you couldn’t make it yourself, or find someone who had one to borrow.
Now follow me to modern times. We are learning that if we are to help the Earth and the living beings upon it, we have to make some serious changes. It is important for us to use less and conserve more. Along with this, we are facing economic issues that are preventing many families from acquiring the basic needs for survival.
To me this is the best time to bring natural and thrifty together. They are truly in the same vein, and I feel the two make very good partners.
For example, here are some thrifty tips from my childhood that still pertain to modern times.
  • Collecting water from your bath/brushing teeth/washing dishes to water indoor and outdoor plants.
  • Reusing containers (buckets, glass jars, etc.)
  • Conserving energy by using less electricity.
If you are thinking of moving to a greener lifestyle, begin your search with those who live a thrifty lifestyle. Many times you will find those folks are your best source of information, and can often get you started on the path being naturally thrifty!
(Kim Upton is a freelance writer and artist livin’ on a small plot of land in Kentucky. She is currently working on grants to open a resource center for kids, so they can learn about the old ways of farming. When not working, you can find Kim sitting on her back porch talking to the hummingbirds and drinking ice tea. You are always invited over if you are ever in the area. More information can be found at Green Being Farm.)

Appalachian mountain and backcountry lingo, colloquialisms, are used and remembered less and less as modern English speech and writing spreads, most particularly through pervasive mass media of all kinds and also through inter-settling from other areas of Americana, particularly cities, on developments of abandoned farmlands and wilderness areas, as original speakers die off -- their mannerisms saved on archive recordings and in the performances of independent storytellers like Dr. Gary Carden and some of those who regularly frequent Jonesborough Tennessee's International Storytelling Center.

photograph of guineas
Graphic above: Guineas, seldom raised now but once plentiful produce from small farms throughout Appalachia and elsewhere for their prized, "gourmet" meat and raucous warning of ... anything changing at all. They raise their chicks communally in terms of brooding, warmth and protection and are, arguably, the wildest of "domestic" birds ever experienced, heard or seen.

  • "arsetroturd" -- phony person that can't or doesn't tell the truth or say or think anything that makes sense or is logical, knowledgeable or worthwhile
  • "bats in the belfry" -- crazy, reference is an analogy to thoughts careening around in someone's head without logic or reason like bats in a church tower (see Origin of Phrases)
  • "batty" -- crazy
  • "can't tell his ear from his arsehole" -- confused
  • "figment of his (or her) own imagination" -- someone who makes up an identity that has no basis in reality and believes it, e.g. "Casey is figment of her own imagination, dollin' up and talkin' like her earwax don't clog and her feet don't stink."
  • "iamyrry tird ating slepts" -- considered country response to current conditions
  • "kick in the teeth" -- sudden, abrupt, unexpected loss, unfortunate event causing disability and/or bad appearance/condition (origin may relate to being kicked by a horse), e.g. "The stock market crash sure was a kick in the teeth."
  • "like acing a class full of retard psychos" -- getting out or away from a difficult situation
  • "margarine" -- a "gateway drug" for older generations to the pernicious world of food additives, chemically rearranged and deranged products purporting to be easy nutrition supplements and mainstays to replace the planning and hard work of fresh produce from home and country gardens
  • "nary" -- no, none
  • "On those days when the first time you do anything it fails, just skip that and go right on to the second try instead." -- country wisdom on logic and life
  • "popcorn for brains" -- someone that goes off frequently in crazy directions mentally and/or behaviorally
  • "put through the wringer" -- went through a difficult time (reference is to old-fashioned wringer washing machines), e.g. "Hortense really put James through the wringer with her bitchin' and bossy ways."
  • "so snotty a handkerchief the size of Texas couldn't clean it up" -- place or person with an undeservedly high self-opinion and "airs" about it
  • "weeded" -- fired, e.g. "Cletus worked for G&H for 21 years and then they just up and weeded him, without nary a notice nor a blessin'."



COUNTRY TALK Index (Choose a letter)

A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M
N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z



Sign of the times: "A sheriff in Limestone County, near Capshaw Alabama ended up transporting a goat and a dog in his cop car. The goat had climbed on top of a woman's Mercedes when she stopped on the highway for a pit stop. It wouldn't come down and she called police. That's when Sheriff Mike Blakely arrived. He managed to get the goat off the car and into his own cruiser. A dog, that was also on the highway with the goat, followed his four-legged pal into the cruiser." -- Coffee News, 7/27/09

Tongue-twister, or Happy Buddha meditation: Say "cub pup cups" three times real fast without looking (Hint: like practicing scales on a musical instrument, you may have to work up to it slowly)

Overheard in Appalachia:
"He's facing over 200 years of federal time."
"He'll be an old man before he gets out."
"You sure hit yer head on the nail with that one, pal."
"How long do people usually live there?"
"No longer than absolutely necessary, I hear tell."

"Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right, But They Do Make it Even"
-- bumper sticker, Ray Arrowood




Black and White #1 THE INVITATION
Graphic: Black and White #1, watercolor by Vera A. Jones



It doesn't interest me what you do for a living
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing

It doesn't interest me how old you are
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love
for your dreams,
for the adventure of being alive

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life's betrayals
or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain
I want to know if you can sit with the pain: mine or your own,
without having
to hide it
or fix it

I want to know if you can be with joy: mine or your own
If you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the
tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
Or to remember the limitations of being human

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself
If you can bear the accusations of betrayal
And not betray your own soul
I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore be trustworthy
I want to know if you can see beauty
even when it is not pretty every day
And, if you can source your own life from its presence
I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine,
and still be on the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the moon "Yes!"

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you
have,
I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair,
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done for the children

It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came here,
I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me
and not shrink back

It doesn't interest me where or with whom or what you have studied
I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all falls away
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments

-- c. Oriah Mountain Dreamer, Dreams of Desire 1995


Up-To-Date Archives -- A Country Rag Index



Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Email admin@acountryrag.org.

Original material © A Country Rag, Inc. 1996, 2010. All rights reserved.

Click here for Next Section
(Listings for Appalachia)