The Country Music Highway of Eastern Kentucky

Before I left for the Czech Republic, I wanted to take another road trip. As luck led me, I took two, but this is about Kentucky. The other is a story for another day. I love travelling in Appalachia. There’s so much that’s familiar, but the accents change dramatically. It’s like visiting a distant cousin. …

Reflections on the Moravian Landscape

Moravia reminds me of the Appalachian foothills in southeast Ohio. The mountains are higher and provide better views, but they’re frustrating when I’m lower and want to get lost in the landscape. Like Bohemia, the sky expands. I’m not sure how that works, but the hills and trees don’t block everything. It keeps developing until the clouds …

Appalachia Is a Place, Not Just a Backwater

I used to envy my friends with cultural connections to the country their families immigrated from. The traditions, cultural ties, and general identification for a way of life left behind but still valued enticed me. It continued a rare brand of conservatism that reflected Burke’s definition of society as a pact among the past, the …