My Granny

My paternal grandmother is probably the most influential Kentucky woman in my life.  For that matter, she's on the short list of the most influential people in my life.  She likes to have things her way, but then again, so do I. She's very emphatic in her opinions on food, basketball, politics and religion; Lord knows I am, too. I once described the two of us as a "hillbilly version of Lady Mary and the Dowager Countess." There's an image I can't take back, but it's not exactly wrong.

My granny is one of the strongest people I know. She taught first grade for 43 years. Literally, half our county owes their literacy to her. She's outlived her husband, her parents, and all five of her siblings. She's 87 years old, and while she doesn't move quite as fast as she used to, she still keeps her kids and grandkids in line with the precision of a drill sergeant.

I've written about my granny many times. I've written about her belief that "everybody who's anybody owns a set of Blue Willow dishes."  I've written about her unshakeable belief in family. But, most of all, I've written about her quilts. They aren't a hobby or a home accessory. They're works of art.

My grandparents with my father and aunt. Easter, 1950s

As we celebrate Women's History Month here on HerKentucky, I first thought that I'd give y'all a break from more essays about my grandmother. I just couldn't do it, though. The older I get, the more I realize that she has left perhaps the most indelible impression on my life. She truly is amazing, if at times infuriating and headstrong. (I, of course, have never once been called those things. Ever...)

My grandparents receiving degrees from EKU, 1961.

As I get older, I find so many ways that my grandmother has influenced me. Nobody else in the world can make cornbread properly. Only her recipe, which involves instructions like "the amount of baking soda that fits on the first knuckle of your first three fingers", is worth eating.  I sure do love blue-and-white dishes. And, while I've said time and again that I'm finally going to finish a quilt, this time I mean it. I have a family legacy to uphold.

HerKentucky Women's History Month Spotlight: Patricia Neal

HerKentucky is celebrating Women's History Month by profiling a few Kentucky women who've left an impression on us. The famous (or infamous) Kentucky women who've come before us and those known mainly by their friends, families, and communities -- the Bluegrass State has given us many role models, and we'd like to pay tribute to a few. -- HCW

It's the oddest feeling when you watch a childhood favorite film as an adult. You suddenly have an entirely different context through which to view the events. Maybe Scarlett O'Hara made bad decisions rather than encountering lots of bad luck, you think. Suddenly, the whole story seems different. Perhaps the most dramatic example for me is Breakfast at Tiffany's. Of course, I watched the blithe romance between Holly Golightly and Paul Varjak dozens of times when I was younger. Then, one day, I realized that the most interesting character wasn't Holly or Paul or even poor hapless Doc Golightly. The character who knew both what she wanted and how to make it happen was Emily "2-E" Failenson, Paul's "decorator friend." In a story full of lost souls, the wealthy, sophisticated matron Mrs. Failenson speaks her mind and tries to keep her "arrangement" with Paul afloat.

I was surprised to learn that this cosmopolitan character was portrayed by an actress who hailed from a tiny Whitley County coal camp town. Patsy Louise Neal was born in Packard, KY in 1926; the town would later be abandoned, while the actress Patricia Neal would go on to win both a Tony and an Oscar.

Like the characters in Breakfast at Tiffany's, Ms. Neal's personal life didn't lack for drama or tragedy. In her twenties, she was Gary Cooper's mistress. She later married the writer, inventor, and spy Roald Dahl. Ms. Neal suffered unimaginable tragedies in her personal life -- a nervous breakdown, a coma, the loss of a young daughter, and the severe injury of her infant son -- and starred alongside some of the greatest names in Hollywood, including Ronald Reagan, John Wayne, and Paul Newman.

Ms. Neal was known for both her strength and grace. She often came home to the mountains in her later years. She worked tirelessly for brain injury causes in her adopted hometown of Knoxville -- a rehabilitation center there is named in her honor -- and maintained close ties with her Knoxville High classmates. From Packard to Knoxville and on to Northwestern University and the famed Actors Studio, Ms. Neal led a life of big achievements and heartbreaking setbacks. She truly is one of the Bluegrass State's most fascinating and complex native daughters.

A Caney Creek Christmas Tree: Alice Lloyd College Ornaments

Alice Lloyd College is a very special place for my family. The College has been a part of my family for generations. So many of my relatives can thank ALC for their education and their career path. It's truly an amazing, one-of-a-kind school.

Every year, ALC sends little presents out to all its alumni. These gifts are  work-study projects for ALC students. These ornaments are some of the "Caney presents" we've collected over the years. The ornaments are actually marked with name, class, and major of the student who made them. What a wonderful reminder that, after all these years, Alice Lloyd College is carrying out the mission of the great lady who founded the school!

Christmas in Ashland

A few weeks ago, I found myself in Ashland with an hour or so to kill, so I took a walk downtown to look at the Christmas decorations. I've always adored the way that town decorates for the holidays. It's so delightfully old-fashioned and fun.

Wooly Worms

It's going to be a bad, snowy winter, y'all. 

This fact was confirmed for me yesterday when I ran across this guy.

Like most country girls, I grew up with a whole lot of folk wisdom. Because so many people in my town were based in a "grow it and eat it" farming mentality, a huge focus was put on predicting the weather. Dogwood and redbudwinters. Indian summers. And the all-knowing wooly worm.

Now, in case you didn't know, the wooly worm is the larval stage of the Isabella tigermoth. It can be brown or black, or a mixture of the two. Conventional wisdom has always held that the more black the wooly worms show, the worse the winter will be. The placement of the colors can also indicate weather patterns -- a brown band in the middle of a black wooly worm means that winter will start and end harshly with a warm snap in the middle. It's an old-timey tradition across the mountains -- there's even a Wooly Worm Festival in Lee County!

My high school biology teacher had more than a bit of country naturalist in him; he taught us that a lot of natural phenomena that reach "folk wisdom" status are often based in scientific fact. I've read that, while there isn't a lot of scientific data to support the wooly worm's predictive patterns, their color patterns are affected by moisture and temperature. I also know that the wooly worm is usually right.

Did y'all grow up reading the wooly worm?

Sunset

The HerKentucky 60 Things Project: Prestonsburg/ Floyd County

In last Sunday's Herald-Leader,  Cheryl Truman, with the help of many readers, listed 50 things that define Lexington.  We thought it would be fun to make a similar HerKentucky list, with 10 things that define our respective hometowns. Today, we're talking Floyd County, my Eastern Kentucky homeland.

Coal in my parents' backyard.

1. Jenny Wiley Theatre: A unique outdoor theater located in Prestonsburg's Jenny Wiley State Park. While the summer stock theater crowd pads their resumes, Eastern Kentuckians enjoy high-quality productions.  I've seen more revivals of Annie, Grease, and Steel Magnolias than I can count, along with the signature Jenny Wiley Story.

2. Billy Ray's: Originally a pool room, Billy Ray's has evolved over the years into Prestonsburg's favorite diner. The decor serves as a museum of Floyd County history, commemorating elections, the historical landscape, and the tragic 1950s school bus crash. Billy Ray's hamburgers are THE quintessential Floyd County food.

3. Route 23: The Country MusicHighway. The Road to theNorth. It's also the main highway through Floyd County.

The New Martin

4. Coal: Energy source,political bellwether, source of the local economy.  Coal is everywhere in Floyd County, and we all have some pretty intense feelings about it.

5. "The New Martin": A few years ago, the town of Martin was slated to be moved from within the flood plain. And then it wasn't. The old town remains.

6. Jenny Wiley State Park: The Boat Dock, the Golf Course, Dewey Dam -- the park holds so many memories for everybody who's ever lived in Floyd County.

7. Stonecrest Golf Course: It's located on top of a mountain. You can't get any more Floyd County than that.

8. The schools: With eight elementary schools, three middle schools, and four high schools, 

Floyd County's public school system is the county's largest employer.

9. Basketball: We love us some basketball in Floyd County. We follow our high school teams. We follow our grade school teams. We obsess about our beloved Kentucky Wildcats every day of the year.

The School's been closed for 20 years, but Wayland is home of the Wasps.

10. Lizzie B's: Although it's only been open for about a year, Lizzie B's has transformed the landscape of Floyd County dining. You can get a craft beer or a glass of wine with dinner. You can get a sandwich garnished with avocado and sprouts! Revolutionary stuff that I never expected to see in Floyd County.