Family Photo Album
Hey Patrons! Junkster here.
Just got back from a trip to take care of some family business. I will be recording a show tonight and spamming it out.
While I was back in the woods, my grandmother “meemaw” whipped out the photo albums. We talked a lot about family and roots, and it reminded me of my creative riding family.
Some interesting family history:
My grandmother recounted to me the actions of some Cherokee members of our family. Her great grandmother was full Cherokee, but denied it so that she wouldn’t be forcibly removed (via the Indian Removal Act). Some of the people that you see in these photos are full and 1/2 Cherokee, and they all blended in enough to pass as really tan hillbillies.
My great grandmother on my grandpa’s side was also Cherokee, but she never left the woods, and neither did her husband. They faked it until they “maked” it, and still don’t embrace any past cultural heritage. They are 100 farmers and nothing else.
My dad is in some of these pics, and although there were vehicles in this hills as early as the 1930s, he didn’t get electricity until he was 9 or 10 years old. I think it was 1960 when power came to the mountain. Before that, he got his ass whooped for swinging on the well handle. You had to pump water and then heat it on a wood stove to wash your hands. Needless to say, my dad didn’t take many baths as a kid.
Now there are electric wells and propane tanks, and farm tractors, quads and side-by-sides. But back when he was a kid, his grandpa still used a mule to plow the garden or pull timber. He also gave my dad rides to the bus stop on the flat bed wagon. I’ll post those pics up later, but I don’t know if he ever learned to drive an automobile.
My grandpa was half-and-half. He was really old school, would rather sleep in the woods than in a house, and never had use for a phone. Thank god for the 70s and my dad and uncle for bringing motorcycles and little dicks into the family. My dad brought the little dicks in. Thanks dad.
Anyways, until next time ,
-Junkster