Recently I just finished Appalachia North by Matthew Ferrence. In it, he recounts the complex relationship he still has with the land as a Northern Appalachian. Typically when I finish a book I write a Literature Appetizer to get people a taste of what they will find. Since his book is such a personal journey, I would not do it justice by recounting his life.
Many of his experiences reflect my own experience growing up in Western PA. So instead of condensing his journey, I thought I would condense mine.
The Hero’s Journey is a common literary structure where the hero of the story departs home to do a great act, and then returns victorious. My Northern Appalachian Journey is a bit different, but has a similar structure of three parts; Living in Water, Succeeding by Leaving, and The Mountains are Calling.
My two biggest disappointments in my public schooling education are 1) not becoming fluent in another language and 2) the US history I was taught. Not only was I taught factually incorrect things, but I was never taught historically significant events that happened locally. The Battle of Blair Mountain is a must read for anyone living in Appalachia.
As a student, each of my Environmental Education teachers assumed we had already read “Last Child in the Woods” by Richard Louv. It was so core to Environmental Education, it must have been covered in another course, right? It wasn’t until April 2021, more than 10 years since becoming a student in Environmental Education, that I finally read this sacred text.
Except…it isn’t sacred. There are some problematic views in this book. If we do not address these issues, we will not be able to fully achieve our goal; show kids how to learn from the land. Below are the three points we need to address in Environmental Education if we are to fully educate the next generation of life-long learners.
As much as I am a technological optimist, one of the worst things it has done has disconnected us from the natural world. Not because technology is inherently ‘anti-nature,’ but because we have not taken the steps to consider the side effects when using technology. One of the simplest examples of this is light pollution;
When I moved back to North Appalachia after three years journeying in other regions, I didn’t feel connected to Pittsburgh. Yes it was where my family was currently living, but we as a family didn’t discuss our personal connection with this area. It wasn’t until my father found a newspaper article titled “Family History: Reunited - Descendants of William Guffey Meet Sutersville, Westmoreland County, PA.”
The Guffey’s are my father’s, father’s, mother’s family. When my dad found this article and was reading it to me I was half paying attention. Most of it was “This person was the children of this person.” Very dry. But the part that stood out most to me was their canoe;
Recently I just finished Appalachia North by Matthew Ferrence. In it, he recounts the complex relationship he still has with the land as a Northern Appalachian. Typically when I finish a book I write a Literature Appetizer to get people a taste of what they will find. Since his book is such a personal journey, I would not do it justice by recounting his life.
Many of his experiences reflect my own experience growing up in Western PA. So instead of condensing his journey, I thought I would condense mine.
The Hero’s Journey is a common literary structure where the hero of the story departs home to do a great act, and then returns victorious. My Northern Appalachian Journey is a bit different, but has a similar structure of three parts; Living in Water, Succeeding by Leaving, and The Mountains are Calling.
This is one of my favorite pictures of my father. Last week while my family was in Florida Dad asked me if I wanted to go and see the animals he saw earlier that day. Being that I love exploring ecoregions with my dad, we stepped outside to the local pond.
We saw at least a half dozen types of birds (including egrets), fish, and mammals. But in the pond, my father told me, was a red eared-slider turtle that got close to him earlier that day. We went to the same location and within a minute this little turtle came up real close.
What’s the unifying story of Appalachia? What common theme can you find time and time again in these mountains? Many people would answer coal. And while that is a big part of the story, Ramp Hollow: the Ordeal of Appalachia by Steve Stoll showcases an even deeper story: one of the privileged taking from everyone else.
In terms of who has privilege, we often base the conversation around skin color and gender, and understandably so. Many people are denied jobs or pay based entirely on race and gender. But privilege can come in many other forms, and although hardships can be different, often they “rhyme.”
I hated being outside growing up. All I wanted to do was sit on the couch and watch Dragon Ball Z and play Super Smash Brothers Melee. But even my childhood self, who had great opposition to the outdoors, still holds the places I grew up near and dear to my heart.
I remember waking up every morning seeing the ridge line. I remember the trees in the back yard where I would run under when it was too hot. I remember walking out on Mammoth Lake when it was frozen with my dad and sister.
The more I age, the more I realize how generous my parents were (and still are) by raising me. One of the ways their generosity shinned was through every night, sitting down for supper. Even though I was an extremely picky eater, Mom would always make sure there was food on the table that I could eat. I didn't even have to think or worry about how food was getting to the table.
Now that I'm living on my own I eat the majority of my meals alone. While this is not always positive, one of the things I really enjoy is experimenting with food. I'm now able to see what kind of food I get day in, and day out.
Over my years of teaching about the environment, I have been fortunate to meet so many different people; from a farmer from Maine who is the best skier I know to the leading expert on native bees in Washington. With many of them I have also had long philosophical talks (usually with a drink or two). The book Dwelling With the Land: Cultivating an Ontological Ethos feels like the book form of those late night conversions.
Tim Bock is a dear friend of mine from working at Lutherlyn. Currently he lives near Grove City with his wife, dog, and a plot of land. By just taking a walk through his back yard, you can get a feeling for his core philosophy. Yes there are sections that he has plowed the land for farming. But he has also set aside a large part of it for the organisms to shape it as they see fit. Tim gives the best summary of his book on page 3:
