#Visiting family and having to drive by bunkers and nuclear fences that only recently removed their 'shoot on sight' signs

[creepyscritches]

I follow several podcasts with people with accents from around Appalachia, and I think it sounds really lovely. It's awesome that your cousin is growing up without being pushed to change it!

:') thank you. I love the way it sounds too - - especially when you get up in the actual smokies (a subrange in the appalachians). There's entire dialects and slang up there as unique as the mountain culture! My uncle was a mountain ranger when I was little and he'd take me on the more kid-friendly trails 💕 Our local station had a series called the Heartland that would focus on all the awesome culture in the area (heehee my fav was always how goats are the preferred kudzu control). There's also dance and fiddle contests that are incredible to see! A lot of talent and highly skilled trades are overlooked simply bc of how the region has been portrayed as unintelligent. Appalachian folk living in the mountains are by far more intellectual when it comes to the natural world than given credit. When you have multiple slangs for "cougar", you have to acknowledge they have developed from a community that is so in tune with the local fauna that even cougars have a hard time sneaking up on people. That's crazy cool! Gatlinburg is renowned for the local black bear population and it's a beloved sighting when one trundles along a creekside.

I dunno, I just really love where I'm from and I wish people could appreciate it without treating the folks that hold it closest to their hearts as "hillbillies".