Sitting here on a Saturday afternoon looking at some videos on YouTube, feeling homesick for Southwest Virginia. (Debbie and Hannah are there now.) I was recording bluegrass off of YouTube to put on my IPOD. I was listening to Patty Loveless' "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive." A song she wrote about her grandparents and the hard times in the Eastern Ky coal mines. I came across a short video about SW Va and coal mining. The story is a glimpse into the life of my father's family and my wife's family. Since coal mining began, as an industry in Southwest Virginia around 1885, men had few choices about employment. You were either a farmer or a coal miner or both; or you worked in a job that supported the coal industry. The video (link below), much to my satisfaction, illustrates the closeness of family and the pervasiveness of the musical heritage of the area that was passed down by the original Scots-Irish, German, and English Settlers of the area from whom I descend. Bluegrass, coal mining, and the Appalachian Mountains and "hollers" of SW Virginia are who I am; different, but no better than anyone else, anywhere. Coal mining is a hard life, and it was much harder 50 years ago. If you ask any miner today, he will tell you that he is proud, very proud, to be a miner. I am very proud that my grandfather and great grandfather, Uncles and many of my cousins worked in the mines. My Dad told me that when he was a boy, his father would leave home before daylight and get home after dark; not seeing the sun shine until Saturday. I remember staying with my Granny and when my Pa (that's my grandfather) would get home, he would be black with coal dust on his hands and face and he always had black edges around his eyes where the coal dust didn't wash off. Like my father, I left SW Va. He came back several times and we settled there in 1972, and he stayed until he died at the age of 52 in 1984. I left to go to college in 1985 and took a job working on missile defense in Alabama in 1989. I will never forget, and will always be proud of, my Appalachian roots. We might talk differently, but we are as smart as anyone anywhere; we know and love God, we work hard, love our country, love our families, pray every day, mind our business, and humbly go about living, and know how to have fun. Here, a man's word is his bond. We can, and will, take care of ourselves anytime we need to. We are the first to step onto the battlefield and have left our dead on the fields of every war the US has ever fought. Most of all, we are Americans. Check this link, hold CTRL key and click on it, or cut and paste it into your browser address bar and click on "Go" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JArYF8axBVY <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JArYF8axBVY&feature=related> &feature=related Randy Crouse McNew Huntsville, AL
AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!! ----- Original Message ----- From: "Randy Crouse McNew" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, April 19, 2008 2:53 PM Subject: [VARUSSEL] Thoughts on SW Va, coal mining and Bluegrass music. > Sitting here on a Saturday afternoon looking at some videos on YouTube, > feeling homesick for Southwest Virginia. (Debbie and Hannah are there > now.) > I was recording bluegrass off of YouTube to put on my IPOD. I was > listening > to Patty Loveless' "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive." A song she wrote > about > her grandparents and the hard times in the Eastern Ky coal mines. I came > across a short video about SW Va and coal mining. > > > > The story is a glimpse into the life of my father's family and my wife's > family. Since coal mining began, as an industry in Southwest Virginia > around > 1885, men had few choices about employment. You were either a farmer or a > coal miner or both; or you worked in a job that supported the coal > industry. > The video (link below), much to my satisfaction, illustrates the closeness > of family and the pervasiveness of the musical heritage of the area that > was > passed down by the original Scots-Irish, German, and English Settlers of > the > area from whom I descend. Bluegrass, coal mining, and the Appalachian > Mountains and "hollers" of SW Virginia are who I am; different, but no > better than anyone else, anywhere. > > > > Coal mining is a hard life, and it was much harder 50 years ago. If you > ask > any miner today, he will tell you that he is proud, very proud, to be a > miner. I am very proud that my grandfather and great grandfather, Uncles > and > many of my cousins worked in the mines. My Dad told me that when he was a > boy, his father would leave home before daylight and get home after dark; > not seeing the sun shine until Saturday. I remember staying with my Granny > and when my Pa (that's my grandfather) would get home, he would be black > with coal dust on his hands and face and he always had black edges around > his eyes where the coal dust didn't wash off. Like my father, I left SW > Va. > He came back several times and we settled there in 1972, and he stayed > until > he died at the age of 52 in 1984. I left to go to college in 1985 and took > a > job working on missile defense in Alabama in 1989. > > > > I will never forget, and will always be proud of, my Appalachian roots. We > might talk differently, but we are as smart as anyone anywhere; we know > and > love God, we work hard, love our country, love our families, pray every > day, > mind our business, and humbly go about living, and know how to have fun. > Here, a man's word is his bond. We can, and will, take care of ourselves > anytime we need to. We are the first to step onto the battlefield and have > left our dead on the fields of every war the US has ever fought. Most of > all, we are Americans. > > > > > > Check this link, hold CTRL key and click on it, or cut and paste it into > your browser address bar and click on "Go" > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JArYF8axBVY > <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JArYF8axBVY&feature=related> > &feature=related > > > > > > Randy Crouse McNew > > Huntsville, AL > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message
What part of Va.? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Randy Crouse McNew" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, April 19, 2008 2:53 PM Subject: [VARUSSEL] Thoughts on SW Va, coal mining and Bluegrass music. > Sitting here on a Saturday afternoon looking at some videos on YouTube, > feeling homesick for Southwest Virginia. (Debbie and Hannah are there > now.) > I was recording bluegrass off of YouTube to put on my IPOD. I was > listening > to Patty Loveless' "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive." A song she wrote > about > her grandparents and the hard times in the Eastern Ky coal mines. I came > across a short video about SW Va and coal mining. > > > > The story is a glimpse into the life of my father's family and my wife's > family. Since coal mining began, as an industry in Southwest Virginia > around > 1885, men had few choices about employment. You were either a farmer or a > coal miner or both; or you worked in a job that supported the coal > industry. > The video (link below), much to my satisfaction, illustrates the closeness > of family and the pervasiveness of the musical heritage of the area that > was > passed down by the original Scots-Irish, German, and English Settlers of > the > area from whom I descend. Bluegrass, coal mining, and the Appalachian > Mountains and "hollers" of SW Virginia are who I am; different, but no > better than anyone else, anywhere. > > > > Coal mining is a hard life, and it was much harder 50 years ago. If you > ask > any miner today, he will tell you that he is proud, very proud, to be a > miner. I am very proud that my grandfather and great grandfather, Uncles > and > many of my cousins worked in the mines. My Dad told me that when he was a > boy, his father would leave home before daylight and get home after dark; > not seeing the sun shine until Saturday. I remember staying with my Granny > and when my Pa (that's my grandfather) would get home, he would be black > with coal dust on his hands and face and he always had black edges around > his eyes where the coal dust didn't wash off. Like my father, I left SW > Va. > He came back several times and we settled there in 1972, and he stayed > until > he died at the age of 52 in 1984. I left to go to college in 1985 and took > a > job working on missile defense in Alabama in 1989. > > > > I will never forget, and will always be proud of, my Appalachian roots. We > might talk differently, but we are as smart as anyone anywhere; we know > and > love God, we work hard, love our country, love our families, pray every > day, > mind our business, and humbly go about living, and know how to have fun. > Here, a man's word is his bond. We can, and will, take care of ourselves > anytime we need to. We are the first to step onto the battlefield and have > left our dead on the fields of every war the US has ever fought. Most of > all, we are Americans. > > > > > > Check this link, hold CTRL key and click on it, or cut and paste it into > your browser address bar and click on "Go" > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JArYF8axBVY > <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JArYF8axBVY&feature=related> > &feature=related > > > > > > Randy Crouse McNew > > Huntsville, AL > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG. > Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 269.23.2/1387 - Release Date: 4/19/2008 > 11:31 AM > >