october 2026 [OC]

Anyone else love kudzu?

Looking for Appalachian fiction referrals in which the protagonist is not trying to get out or staying only reluctantly.

I am looking for stories featuring characters who want to stay and want to make their communities stronger.

I love Woodrell, Pancake, et. al., but I want to read the other side.

I finally finished researching ways to deal with rodents eating/chewing stuff. Basically for food and anything with an odor store it in the bear canister. A mouse can't get in lmao.

For shoes store in tent because ppl woke up to shoes missing and they are more likely to eat them if you keep them outside. I'd rather wake up to a hole in the tent.

For trekking pole grips I'd just wash them with soap and water (or river/lake) literally every day. Otherwise this happens (https://imgur.com/a/porcupine-ate-trekking-poles-lrBYFQc). I can't store them in the tent because it's a trekking pole tent. Regardless, if they do get chewed I won't fix them. Unfortunately they don't make poles with plastic grips. Pretty stupid because this is a common problem.

The backpack was the most annoying. Number 1 is don't store food or anything with a strong odor in the bag; including sanitizer, unscented soap (yes, bears can smell it), and DEET lmao. Store ALL of that in the bear canister.

For each of the below numbers we are assuming rodents are going for your bag regardless of food in it or not. There may be trace crumbs and THERE IS odor and they may go for it. Especially in populated campsites where they are basically trained to go for the bag no matter what.

1. If you store it inside the tent, mice will make a hole in tent and then a hole in your bag straight to whatever it is. You 90% of the time won't hear them, so no, you can't stop them.

2. If you store it in the vestibule, racoons can drag your bag away, and mice can still make holes. Also for both methods you risk a large animal trying to get in the tent.

3. You can store it outside the tent on ground with all pockets open. Will prevent mice from making holes. But still allows animals to drag the bag away and I don't want to empty bugs out of my bag.

4. You can bear hang it. Rodents will climb tree and down the rope and make holes in your bag. Spiders, ants, roaches will still make home in pockets if open.

5. The foolproof way that I found out works 99% of the time that rarely is used because 99% of ppl are stupid anyway and just sleep with their food lmao. Bear hang the bag (deer can't reach). On the end of the rope don't attach the bag. Attach a fishing line. Practically impossible for mice and especially larger animals to climb a fishing line. At the end of the fishing line have a carabiner and then the bag.

They technically can still attempt to climb down so there is a chance they drop down right on top of the bag. For that attach a rope to a tree trunk, then fishing line, then carabiner, and that to bottom of bag. Bag will be pulled to the side so if they attempt to climb the top rope and fall, it's not directly on the bag.

Tip: Leave slack on the rope portion on both top and bottom to account for difference in distances.

This method pretty much 99% guarantees they aren't getting in the bag. Not even ants can climb a fishing line, so that keeps crawlers off too. The 1% is a flying squirrel or dumb luck that a rodent falls/jumps on the bag.

In the rain I'd simply put the entire backpack in a trash bag and pull the top line thru and tape off. Being that there is a fishing line leading to the bag there should be minimal water running to the bag.

For humans/large animals attach a tripwire alarm to the tree used for bottom rope using fishing line going straight to bag. Do similar setup for bear canister, but put bear canister under burlap camo to hide from humans. Will go off and alert you and hopefully scare the human/animal. If it doesn't, you are AWAKE and have a GUN.

Having to do that everyday would suck ass but I rather that than have my shit eaten/torn or full of bugs. Fortunate many people never have a problem. It really only matters in populated areas or shelters. Some places require you to sleep in a shelter. I won't.

This debate recently came up on a post on
r/howislivingthere . What are yalls thoughts?

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october 2026 [OC]

I want to read about Appalachia in a mystical manner. Any recommendations for fantasy novels based on Appalachia

Hey everyone! My name is Elijah Skipper. I'm an investigative reporter with News 13 in western North Carolina.

I wanted to share a story I've been working on and hear from people elsewhere in Appalachia who are having these conversations.

Our station covered noise complaints at Facebook's Forest City data center in 2013. With so much attention on new data centers now, I kept wondering what happened to the people who were already living beside one.

I tracked down Jim Bennett and Tommy Doggett, two neighbors from that original report. We watched the old video together, then went back into Jim's backyard, which backs up to the site.

They say it's quiet now. Both believe the sound-absorbing material and trees helped. They also give the original reporting a lot of credit for getting Facebook to listen.

But it wasn't a quick fix. Neighbors were still complaining about noise in our 2015 follow-up.

I went back through the coverage and records, spoke with the Data Center Coalition and followed up with Meta about what changed and whether Forest City shaped its approach elsewhere. At publication, we hadn't obtained a current testing schedule or written agreement showing what hours apply now.

I think hearing from people who have lived through this adds something to the debate. If a project is being discussed near you, what questions are residents asking? And what do you wish your community had settled before construction started?

I'm happy to answer questions about the reporting too.

I was in Knoxville when they did this visiting a sick relative, it felt awful seeing in real time.

Also, LMAO at "rid the area of kudzu".

Riiiiiiiiiight

Doing a bike trip from WV to the smokies. Considering going towards Kentucky, specifically Cumberland where I could also ride KY-160 from Lynch to Appalachia, and then heading down to Smokies towards Cherokee. Never been this way. Anyone been & can recommend it? Or should I just stick to Tazewell to Marion and down? Any route suggestions appreciated. Priority is nice roads on the bike

Bruce Johnston interviews the late Alvin Lytle about changes in the local climate and their effect on climate. Recorded in April 2020 on a windy day in front of a creek at Earthaven Ecovillage.

Some residents have held small demonstrations or are speaking against the project at government meetings.

I live in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, where coal and timber once drove much of our local economy. Last weekend, our town hosted its fifth annual Blue Highway Fest, and Thursday's opening performance sold out. Overall ticket sales were reportedly running about 35% ahead of last year.

What interests me isn't just the bluegrass music. It's what happens when a small Appalachian town starts treating its own culture and heritage as something worth investing in.

For generations, we shipped coal, timber, and eventually too many of our young people out of these mountains. Now we're bringing visitors in to experience something that's been here all along.

I wrote about the festival, the people behind it, and the volunteers who travel hundreds of miles to help make it happen.

Here's the article if you're interested:

https://pickup-trucks-progress.ghost.io/sold-out/