#mcdowellcounty

Summer in Appalachia is magical. The land simply comes to life. Summer makes me think of barefeet, slamming screendoors, katydids, lightning bugs, warm tomatoes, canning jars, swimming holes, sweet iced tea, sunning, watermelons, blackberries, flip flops, cotton night gowns, warm dirt, baseball, sun kissed faces, corn on the cob, fried squash, fresh cucumbers, guitar picking on the porch, clotheslines, campfires, and honey bees.

Sweet Summertime Memories.

Appalachian Folklore, Wives Tales, and Superstitions: The lore and sayings may vary based on location, family tradition, and other factors, but this is just what I’m sharing from my experiences!

•Deaths and births always come in threes.

• Don’t throw your hair out! If a bird builds a nest with it, you’ll have migraines.

• “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky at morning, sailor’s warning.”

• If the leaves on trees are flipped over with their backsides showing, rain’s coming.

• If you’re giving someone a wallet or purse as a present, put money in it to ensure they’ll never financially struggle.

• Spirits can’t cross running water.

• Cats and dogs won’t enter a room where spirits are present.

• Carry an acorn in your pocket for good luck, a penny for prosperity, and a nail for protection.

• If you’re having nightmares, put a Bible under your pillow. They’ll go away.

• Take a spoonful of honey to keep your words sweet.

• It’s bad luck to walk over a grave.

• A horseshoe hung above a door ensures good luck.

• A horseshoe in the bedroom staves away nightmares.

• If your right hand itches, you’ll soon be receiving money. If the left itches, you’ll be paying it.

• Rubbing a bit of potato on a wart helps it to go away.

• If the soles of your feet itch, you will soon walk on strange grounds.

• Black eyed peas, greens, and/or pork and sauerkraut should be eaten on New Year’s Day to welcome good luck and good fortune.

• Driving a nail into a bedframe or crib will drive away curses.

• If your ears are burning, someone’s talking about you.

• If you dream of fish, you are or will soon be pregnant.

• Listen to the wisdom of children, they see and know more than we think.

The hollers echo with the past and new,

a changing world, but roots remain so true.

For in this place, the ghosts of hard-won days, still walk the winding paths in misty haze.

And every ridge holds stories, wild and deep,

"There is a certain splendor in the heart of North Carolina, where the ancient mountains rise up to meet the sky. It’s a sight that humbles the soul and reminds us of nature's enduring, silent beauty."

The mountains have this way of making you feel like you are breathing dreams like air. 💙

Memorial for the 6 textile workers who were shot and killed on October 1, 1929 while picketing Marion Manufacturing Company in Marion, North Carolina.

The four men were Sam Vickers, Randolph Hall, Luther Bryson, and George Jonas. Two additional workers, James Roberts and T. L. Carver, died later of their wounds. The law enforcement officers were charged with murder but would later be acquitted in court.