Riegelwood, NC (Part 1 of ??)
(I'm listening to a group called 16 Horsepower, album Secret South, Razor & Tie records and it's got me all introspective).
Do you ever wonder what made you into you? There's 2 things I really, really want to do before too much longer. Finish a poem about my Papaw I've been working on for 3 years (it has to be perfect) and tell some stories about growing up. I have so many things to say about growing up. I went to bed last night thinking about it and my mind was all over the place. I imagine this series of posts will be the same. Marginally interesting, true stories that careen back and forth between many, many good memories, each trying to get told next. Climb in, buckle up and let's get this road trip started.
Riegelwood, Columbus County, NC is in my mind home. Or where I formed my opinions. Or where I grew up...became aware...whatever. I think it is a big part of who I am and why. A papermill town smack in the middle of The Green Swamp. I loved it there. 20 or 30 miles east was Wilmington, west was a bunch of nothing. Farms and small towns. Bolton, Lake Waccamaw, Whiteville. You get the picture.
You walked 15 minutes in any direction from my back door and you found yourself in one of 3 places: a cornfield, the woods, or swamp. Town was just enough houses to get a post office built and you could walk from end to end in 10 minutes, probably less.
Snakes, good gracious we had snakes! With a small lake in our back yard we didn't have to go far to find a cottonmouth. And since we lived to be barefoot, stayed outside constantly and seined for minnows (why the heck would someone PAY for fish bait??) we learned to keep an eye out for them without actually slowing down the velocity at which we lived our life.
At the end of town, behind the far row of houses was a creek. Across the fell down tree bridge was an tall embankment. At the top was a railroad track. I already told you about this track. Take a left and go a mile or so and there was the spot where we would catch pulpwood chip cars and where the big blackberry patch was. But we ain't going left, we're going straight across and down the other side. That's where the green swamp started and a place we loved to go.
We'd get to the top of the embankment and go tear assing down the other side, full speed and dive into the swamp to swim. There were ropes for swinging, trees for jumping from and scrub brush that provided for some privacy. We would hang out there for hours, wrestling, swimming, fishing and telling tall, tall tales.
One day, running down the path I stepped on a rattlesnake. But I was running so fast I was on him and back off him before either me or the snake realized what had happened. I went ahead and gave a good scream anyway, even though the danger was passed. He just stayed there, I guess figuring I was gone already and likely to be more careful on the return trip, which as it turns out, was an austute observation on the part of that venomous reptile. I was very careful on the way back out.
Also, same place different day, we were headed out carrying sticks, machetes, bowie knives and hatchets. We played with stuff like that back then. We were boys and that's what boys did.
Anyway, we were mightily discussing bobcats, bears and snakes as we walked. In the swamp, you gotta be prepared to dispatch wild predators at a monents notice, so you plan in advance. For example, if it was a bear, me and Walter were to jump on his back while Ceaser (the German Shepard) had him distracted. Then Bro Dave was to hack his head off with the machete. And he had to do it quickly because we were pretty sure me and Walter couldn't hold him very long. Though he never said so, Ceaser seemed to understand his part. We had similarly well thought out plans for the other dangerous animals we might encounter in our traipsing.
One day, headed down to the water, we come into a spot of sunlight and face to face with the largest snake we had ever seen. We looked at him and he looked at us. And we turned and high tailed it faster than we had ever run before. Still carrying our machetes, knives and hatchets. We laughed about it later. And we swore that if we saw him again, we'd be more prepared to go over and lop off his head. Not caught off guard like this time. As you may have noticed, wild animals are best conquered by taking off their heads. Works on all of them and was alway an integral part of any plan.
OK, I will soon tell you about bootleggers, semi-trucks, Wilmington, first girlfriends, etc. All posts in these semi-regular posts about Riegelwood will be 100% true. Trust me, there's no need to embellish these stories. I should hit a stride with it very soon. I always start out slow like this.
(Now playing Uncle Tupelo's Life Worth Living (from No Depression) which is still more introspection inducing tuneage.)
Travelin' Ed
Do you ever wonder what made you into you? There's 2 things I really, really want to do before too much longer. Finish a poem about my Papaw I've been working on for 3 years (it has to be perfect) and tell some stories about growing up. I have so many things to say about growing up. I went to bed last night thinking about it and my mind was all over the place. I imagine this series of posts will be the same. Marginally interesting, true stories that careen back and forth between many, many good memories, each trying to get told next. Climb in, buckle up and let's get this road trip started.
Riegelwood, Columbus County, NC is in my mind home. Or where I formed my opinions. Or where I grew up...became aware...whatever. I think it is a big part of who I am and why. A papermill town smack in the middle of The Green Swamp. I loved it there. 20 or 30 miles east was Wilmington, west was a bunch of nothing. Farms and small towns. Bolton, Lake Waccamaw, Whiteville. You get the picture.
You walked 15 minutes in any direction from my back door and you found yourself in one of 3 places: a cornfield, the woods, or swamp. Town was just enough houses to get a post office built and you could walk from end to end in 10 minutes, probably less.
Snakes, good gracious we had snakes! With a small lake in our back yard we didn't have to go far to find a cottonmouth. And since we lived to be barefoot, stayed outside constantly and seined for minnows (why the heck would someone PAY for fish bait??) we learned to keep an eye out for them without actually slowing down the velocity at which we lived our life.
At the end of town, behind the far row of houses was a creek. Across the fell down tree bridge was an tall embankment. At the top was a railroad track. I already told you about this track. Take a left and go a mile or so and there was the spot where we would catch pulpwood chip cars and where the big blackberry patch was. But we ain't going left, we're going straight across and down the other side. That's where the green swamp started and a place we loved to go.
We'd get to the top of the embankment and go tear assing down the other side, full speed and dive into the swamp to swim. There were ropes for swinging, trees for jumping from and scrub brush that provided for some privacy. We would hang out there for hours, wrestling, swimming, fishing and telling tall, tall tales.
One day, running down the path I stepped on a rattlesnake. But I was running so fast I was on him and back off him before either me or the snake realized what had happened. I went ahead and gave a good scream anyway, even though the danger was passed. He just stayed there, I guess figuring I was gone already and likely to be more careful on the return trip, which as it turns out, was an austute observation on the part of that venomous reptile. I was very careful on the way back out.
Also, same place different day, we were headed out carrying sticks, machetes, bowie knives and hatchets. We played with stuff like that back then. We were boys and that's what boys did.
Anyway, we were mightily discussing bobcats, bears and snakes as we walked. In the swamp, you gotta be prepared to dispatch wild predators at a monents notice, so you plan in advance. For example, if it was a bear, me and Walter were to jump on his back while Ceaser (the German Shepard) had him distracted. Then Bro Dave was to hack his head off with the machete. And he had to do it quickly because we were pretty sure me and Walter couldn't hold him very long. Though he never said so, Ceaser seemed to understand his part. We had similarly well thought out plans for the other dangerous animals we might encounter in our traipsing.
One day, headed down to the water, we come into a spot of sunlight and face to face with the largest snake we had ever seen. We looked at him and he looked at us. And we turned and high tailed it faster than we had ever run before. Still carrying our machetes, knives and hatchets. We laughed about it later. And we swore that if we saw him again, we'd be more prepared to go over and lop off his head. Not caught off guard like this time. As you may have noticed, wild animals are best conquered by taking off their heads. Works on all of them and was alway an integral part of any plan.
OK, I will soon tell you about bootleggers, semi-trucks, Wilmington, first girlfriends, etc. All posts in these semi-regular posts about Riegelwood will be 100% true. Trust me, there's no need to embellish these stories. I should hit a stride with it very soon. I always start out slow like this.
(Now playing Uncle Tupelo's Life Worth Living (from No Depression) which is still more introspection inducing tuneage.)
Travelin' Ed
That's what I'm about. Ramblin' Ed at 7:26 PM
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