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Blogs by Marge B. Fulton
Thoughts from a Coal Town 9/16/2008 3:29:44 AM
Festivals to Sore Muscles. Here in the mountains of eastern Kentucky, temps have dropped twenty degrees in the past three days! The cool clear air is divine. Down below us our little town is preparing for the Fall Festival. There are festivals in most neighboring counties such as the Gingerbread Festival, the Honey Festival and ours, the Black Gold Festival.
A banner stretches across Main Street reading, COAL KEEPS THE LIGHTS ON. We are like the iron in your food. Coal mining is alive and well here. If you eat in a Mom and Pop restaurant for lunch, miners are often there. With faces black as Al Jolson, they show up in everyday places. In the line at the supermarket. At the gas station. The deep miners stand out in a crowd. Surface miners blend in more readily. They wear suits with flourescent trim. They all wrestle with this land. Time will tell who wins.
I love nothing better than to be deep in a holler somewhere photographing butterflies or wildflowers. Last summer a friend of ours saw over 100 species of birds. Wildlife is abundant here and even though the ATVs have an impact, it seems to thrive. Many places are healthy as the ivy that creeps along my fence.
I raided the ivy with my hedge trimmers yesterday and now I am sore as a marathon runner! This cool snap inspires one to put the final touches on your property. Today, I will dabble in painting and literature. Coal keeps the lights on and sweat does a body good. Good and tired here.
My book is on the horizon. Bursting at the seams with short stories about life in and out of a coal town, it will warm you. ALL ROADS LEAD TO HAZARD, is potent as coal. I will be sure to make info available as it emerges onto the market. Let's hope the stock market bounces back! Until then....
Marge Fulton
www.freewebs.com/hazardgal
