I look at things differently now; my life is different now….. no life is the same but the way I view life is different and people have taught me this...
People watching, I have always been a fan of the sport, but was never so attentive until my trip to Europe. I had a mere mission to understand things differently, change my paradigm of life, and create more options. A quest to find what story could be told, what puzzle would be put together by immersing myself in the music, language, food, and art of a culture.. the people. As I stepped off the plane onto Tennessee concrete, that afternoon after traveling 20 straight hours, I made a promise that my new found passion would not disappear but evolve as I emerge into a new life in the south east. I knew I did not have to travel half way across the world to learn from foreign people, I had a wealth of unique culture at my finger tips.
I find myself this weekend in good company …. Two southern born and raised, home grown fellas, Mark and Jeff, have invited me to join them for weekend days full of mountain bike riding and evenings filled with a music festival that is taking place in Ashville, North Carolina http://www.exploreasheville.com/index.aspx in the heart of the Appalachian mountains.
I ask my friends to define the Appalachian culture as they see it, growing up on the outskirts of this way of life Mark answered instantly…”It means starting everything with …” momma says”……I can see it. I sense this in the southern culture, and maybe especially the Appalachian culture as it seems to be deep rooted in family. So I guess what mamma says is best. That is.... what my momma says is always best.....
I have more to learn from Bellchere, the festival located downtown Ashville that has given reason to close the streets of this small city that is nestled in the Appalachian Mountains. Temporary stages, beer stands, food vendors, and artist selling their creations take over the streets that would normally give passage to the “city” life.
Ashville, or what I remember from a previous visit, is defined by the artist community, blue grass music, and vegetarian food. A unique culture defined by mountain life, a movement of people searching for the natural life; their ancestry is spanning back to Scottish immigrants that were pushed to the mountains. Poor people that adapted to their environment; these people have a very unique culture
Music is an obvious defining component of any culture, and is especially evident at a music festival. Belchere, has a venue of all music from folk and bluegrass to techno, southern rock and blues. What I find interesting is the prominent feel of blue grass; this music is rooted in the young. I am almost taken back by two young ladies, with an outward appearance of what could be unfairly defined as “Hippies”, embracing the traditional bluegrass instrument that for me is normally associated with older mountain men finessing the stands. However, their petite hands gracefully manipulate the instrument to accompany their perfect harmony.
I assume the traditional Scottish dance was taken, manipulated, and adapted to fit the needs of the people hundreds of years ago. I see hints of the traditional dance as I watch a child and her mother “clog” dance in perfect accord to a bluegrass band that is performing on a small stage.
You can tell a lot about people by the food they eat and prepare. It is evident in grocery stores as you scan the carts of what people plan to purchase and can also be discovered at local festivals. Apple pie pilled high smothered in what appears to be camel sauce. I do not think you can get any more southern then this. My mouth begins to water as I stop and hesitate ..hmmm…. it would surely spoil my dinner.
One other thing distinctly southern is Church. Yes there are such things as snake handling churches around these parts. With any festival, a group of people, a gathering of the saved or unsaved; here in the south, the Bible belt, we have those extreme Christian groups that believe the forceful hand of God is the most effective. Crowds gather, protest against what this extreme Christian is saying. Condemning these people, not knowing their hearts, judging, slandering what Jesus was all about. I am instantly sadden, because being a Christian myself I know that this mere person with his forceful antics is turning all that is good about Christianity into a circus.
People amuses me, I could stay here all day a learn, absorb life, learn about myself, and reflect of the world as I see it through my new eyes.
People watching, I have always been a fan of the sport, but was never so attentive until my trip to Europe. I had a mere mission to understand things differently, change my paradigm of life, and create more options. A quest to find what story could be told, what puzzle would be put together by immersing myself in the music, language, food, and art of a culture.. the people. As I stepped off the plane onto Tennessee concrete, that afternoon after traveling 20 straight hours, I made a promise that my new found passion would not disappear but evolve as I emerge into a new life in the south east. I knew I did not have to travel half way across the world to learn from foreign people, I had a wealth of unique culture at my finger tips.
I find myself this weekend in good company …. Two southern born and raised, home grown fellas, Mark and Jeff, have invited me to join them for weekend days full of mountain bike riding and evenings filled with a music festival that is taking place in Ashville, North Carolina http://www.exploreasheville.com/index.aspx in the heart of the Appalachian mountains.
I ask my friends to define the Appalachian culture as they see it, growing up on the outskirts of this way of life Mark answered instantly…”It means starting everything with …” momma says”……I can see it. I sense this in the southern culture, and maybe especially the Appalachian culture as it seems to be deep rooted in family. So I guess what mamma says is best. That is.... what my momma says is always best.....I have more to learn from Bellchere, the festival located downtown Ashville that has given reason to close the streets of this small city that is nestled in the Appalachian Mountains. Temporary stages, beer stands, food vendors, and artist selling their creations take over the streets that would normally give passage to the “city” life.
Ashville, or what I remember from a previous visit, is defined by the artist community, blue grass music, and vegetarian food. A unique culture defined by mountain life, a movement of people searching for the natural life; their ancestry is spanning back to Scottish immigrants that were pushed to the mountains. Poor people that adapted to their environment; these people have a very unique culture
Music is an obvious defining component of any culture, and is especially evident at a music festival. Belchere, has a venue of all music from folk and bluegrass to techno, southern rock and blues. What I find interesting is the prominent feel of blue grass; this music is rooted in the young. I am almost taken back by two young ladies, with an outward appearance of what could be unfairly defined as “Hippies”, embracing the traditional bluegrass instrument that for me is normally associated with older mountain men finessing the stands. However, their petite hands gracefully manipulate the instrument to accompany their perfect harmony.
I assume the traditional Scottish dance was taken, manipulated, and adapted to fit the needs of the people hundreds of years ago. I see hints of the traditional dance as I watch a child and her mother “clog” dance in perfect accord to a bluegrass band that is performing on a small stage.
You can tell a lot about people by the food they eat and prepare. It is evident in grocery stores as you scan the carts of what people plan to purchase and can also be discovered at local festivals. Apple pie pilled high smothered in what appears to be camel sauce. I do not think you can get any more southern then this. My mouth begins to water as I stop and hesitate ..hmmm…. it would surely spoil my dinner.
One other thing distinctly southern is Church. Yes there are such things as snake handling churches around these parts. With any festival, a group of people, a gathering of the saved or unsaved; here in the south, the Bible belt, we have those extreme Christian groups that believe the forceful hand of God is the most effective. Crowds gather, protest against what this extreme Christian is saying. Condemning these people, not knowing their hearts, judging, slandering what Jesus was all about. I am instantly sadden, because being a Christian myself I know that this mere person with his forceful antics is turning all that is good about Christianity into a circus.
People amuses me, I could stay here all day a learn, absorb life, learn about myself, and reflect of the world as I see it through my new eyes.
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