Is it Ground Work or Working the Ground?

“Folk is established by traditions. Folk is traditional, it is frequently old-timey, and some people consider it old-fashioned. Folk is homemade. Folk is the self made culture of a people. Folk is the unselfconscious constructs in the material and nonmaterial culture of a given group.”  (Rehder)

People ask me where I live when I travel. I don’t have a strong dialect, and I dress in what could be considered a stereotypically ‘normal’ way for modern society. But there is so much more to a person than what can be seen. Their roots, their base, their beliefs, their traditions, their family, their home; all of these remain a mystery when hidden behind layers of clothes and words.

            I live in the mountains. They, too, cannot be understood or explained by sight alone. But without the mountains the place would not be the same. The traditions, the folk, the foodways, the basic human condition would be completely different if it had evolved in any other place than these breathtaking mountains. Those that travel and pass through them may enjoy their sight, but are not experiencing the true Appalachia in the way that a resident does. To someone who resides here, the mountains are as real and as vital as breath. They remain ever constant, with little recognition until they are no longer there. Like having the wind knocked from your lungs, a land that is flat often makes my soul feel lifeless.