Even though where I grew up in Coos Bay Oregon there were lots of families that came from the Appalachians and very nearby areas.

I certainly have them in my family tree.

These are Appalachian teens clogging at the Asheville Mountain Music Festival (1965)

We were taught how to Square Dance instead in Middle school.

Also got taught Hunter Safety and actually shot .22 rifles in a large classroom with a back stop the same year.

It’s funny but I still understand quite a bit of the dialect, the words and the phrases they use in Southern Appalachia because my Grandma and lots of her friends mixed them in when they talked while I was growing up.

Except for my Mother’s Brother, I am the only one left from that side of the family who still knows any of that stuff because my Mom and Her Mom have both been gone over forty five years now. Grandpa moved back to Tennessee right after they died.

Even my younger brother wasn’t around them enough to learn any of it.

None of the Grandchildren ever even met them.

It’s kind of wierd when you think about it.

A 100% born and raised West Coast boy who could walk into a store in Appalachia and feel right at home.

I ain’t spending a fucking dime today.

As a matter of fact, I think I will go out in the garage and Piddle Fart all day.