Day 1: Coal Country and Preceptions
So, I couldn't stick to my schedule. I had planned on turning in my appellate brief for class early and leave straight from my internship with the FTC in downtown Cleveland Thursday, but I got caught up with the brief and ended up getting only a few hours of sleep the night before my big drive down. So, erring on the safe side, I decided to take the full time to edit the brief and also drink with Joe before sleeping many hours.
This morning, I woke up later than my nine o'clock time and rushed to shower, eat and pack before I headed out the door to turn in some overdue footnotes for Journal. Believe me, it's hard to think about footnote verification right before a long trip like this. Anyhow, getting out of Cleveland had a great and cathartic feeling for myself; the cold weather and the anxiety of finding a job and law school lifted from me as the temperatures also rose as I drove south on I-77.
The drive was mostly pleasant, except for a hitch in the middle (I'll describe that later). The geography of Ohio changes quite noticeably as you get out past Akron to Canton. (I also discovered how close by the National Pro Football Hall of Fame is. I'll have to make a visit at some point.) No longer is the land just flat after a certain point; it becomes rolling hills that is reminiscent of Charlottesville, VA for myself. As I drove farther down, I was impressed by the carving up of the mountains that I saw. The block-like marks in the mountains made it seem like they were constructed rom Lego pieces and the striations on them looked like they wept.
Eventually and finally I arrived in Charleston, WV. For a capital, I thought it would be much bigger, but the skyline only had a few "tall" buildings -- mostly bank buildings. The sun was approaching its setting point behind the mountains, and the city looked almost rustic, in that special mountain way as I drove through. Though it was rush hour at 5:00 pm on a Friday, there was no traffic at all as I zoomed through.
At this point, I called both Debi and Ginger. Debi was coming from Lebanon, VA, about 70 miles from Whitesburg to visit me. Ginger, my friend from college is working at Appalshop in Whitesburg. Read more about Appalshop here: http://www.appalshop.org/ . I told them that I would see them soon, but in my discussion with them on the phone, I must have missed the turn for South, Route 119. I had the impression, talking with Ginger that the road was supposed to be twisty and windy, but I was surprised at the one-lane nature of the road as well as the tight switchbacks I had to go through. Finally, after going 20 mph for a while, I was not in Pike County anymore and I had not arrived in Pikesville, which I thought was a large town. Turning around at the Floyd County line, I turned towards what seemed the closest thing to civilization. It turned out it was a coal mine. I tried to find a map that could help me locate where I was, but could not in the dark. I looked up in my wranglings to see a pair of headlights on a pickup truck come toward me. The truck slowed down and pulled up to me.
At this point, I was uncertain what to do. My instinct told me that I was in Appalachia and it was probably unwise to lower my window and talk to a total stranger. But two thoughts tugged at me: one emotional and the other rational. The first was that I was getting worried that I was lost and had no cell phone coverage. The second was that I shouldn't assume that a coal miner would take negatively to me, because I was an out of town minority. So, I rolled down my window and politely asked how to get to South 119. The gentleman was in this fifties and he looked at me kindly and said that I just needed to go the way I had come from; I would hit the intersection quickly enough. I thanked him profusely and got back on track. When I had cell phone reception eventually again, I told Ginger about the coal miner. "Was he mean to you?" I was surprised. "Um, was he supposed to be, or should he have?" I asked. "No, just get out of there!"
Later when I finally arrived in Whitesburg to have a late dinner at the new Mexican restaurant (there are only three restaurants in town) she explained that coal miners were unfriendly to people that they were suspicious. It made sense, I guess -- I could appear to be some lawyer snooping around the coal mine looking for work.
I'll write some more tomorrow about the town, since I'm tired now. Got to see Debi and catch up with Ginger as well as meet her housemate...
This morning, I woke up later than my nine o'clock time and rushed to shower, eat and pack before I headed out the door to turn in some overdue footnotes for Journal. Believe me, it's hard to think about footnote verification right before a long trip like this. Anyhow, getting out of Cleveland had a great and cathartic feeling for myself; the cold weather and the anxiety of finding a job and law school lifted from me as the temperatures also rose as I drove south on I-77.
The drive was mostly pleasant, except for a hitch in the middle (I'll describe that later). The geography of Ohio changes quite noticeably as you get out past Akron to Canton. (I also discovered how close by the National Pro Football Hall of Fame is. I'll have to make a visit at some point.) No longer is the land just flat after a certain point; it becomes rolling hills that is reminiscent of Charlottesville, VA for myself. As I drove farther down, I was impressed by the carving up of the mountains that I saw. The block-like marks in the mountains made it seem like they were constructed rom Lego pieces and the striations on them looked like they wept.
Eventually and finally I arrived in Charleston, WV. For a capital, I thought it would be much bigger, but the skyline only had a few "tall" buildings -- mostly bank buildings. The sun was approaching its setting point behind the mountains, and the city looked almost rustic, in that special mountain way as I drove through. Though it was rush hour at 5:00 pm on a Friday, there was no traffic at all as I zoomed through.
At this point, I called both Debi and Ginger. Debi was coming from Lebanon, VA, about 70 miles from Whitesburg to visit me. Ginger, my friend from college is working at Appalshop in Whitesburg. Read more about Appalshop here: http://www.appalshop.org/ . I told them that I would see them soon, but in my discussion with them on the phone, I must have missed the turn for South, Route 119. I had the impression, talking with Ginger that the road was supposed to be twisty and windy, but I was surprised at the one-lane nature of the road as well as the tight switchbacks I had to go through. Finally, after going 20 mph for a while, I was not in Pike County anymore and I had not arrived in Pikesville, which I thought was a large town. Turning around at the Floyd County line, I turned towards what seemed the closest thing to civilization. It turned out it was a coal mine. I tried to find a map that could help me locate where I was, but could not in the dark. I looked up in my wranglings to see a pair of headlights on a pickup truck come toward me. The truck slowed down and pulled up to me.
At this point, I was uncertain what to do. My instinct told me that I was in Appalachia and it was probably unwise to lower my window and talk to a total stranger. But two thoughts tugged at me: one emotional and the other rational. The first was that I was getting worried that I was lost and had no cell phone coverage. The second was that I shouldn't assume that a coal miner would take negatively to me, because I was an out of town minority. So, I rolled down my window and politely asked how to get to South 119. The gentleman was in this fifties and he looked at me kindly and said that I just needed to go the way I had come from; I would hit the intersection quickly enough. I thanked him profusely and got back on track. When I had cell phone reception eventually again, I told Ginger about the coal miner. "Was he mean to you?" I was surprised. "Um, was he supposed to be, or should he have?" I asked. "No, just get out of there!"
Later when I finally arrived in Whitesburg to have a late dinner at the new Mexican restaurant (there are only three restaurants in town) she explained that coal miners were unfriendly to people that they were suspicious. It made sense, I guess -- I could appear to be some lawyer snooping around the coal mine looking for work.
I'll write some more tomorrow about the town, since I'm tired now. Got to see Debi and catch up with Ginger as well as meet her housemate...
Labels: coal, spring break 2007, whitesburg
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1:30 AM
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