R- AFSC DC staff Aura Kanegis, Alissa Wilson, Sara Ibrahim, Carl Roose, Kitty Dana and Gabriela (not pictured Jessica Roach and Raed Jarrar).
L-Jackson du Pont (Jim's godson), Jim, Reesey du Pont and Gabriela
We've had a couple of days off bike to relax and connect with family and friends. It's been lovely to hang out with Lammot duPont (whose hotel room we started in in Knoxville) and Wendy Taylor and their kids Reesey and Jackson (Jim's godson). Tonight we'll stay at Jim's brother Greg and wife Tina's to put together the bike again and read Rachel and Allison a bedtime story. Yesterday we took the metro into DC and saw my grandma's cousin Janie Leighton and the AFSC DC staff. It has been fun to visit AFSC staff through the regions we are traveling.
Tomorrow we get back on the bike and head on the C&O rails to trails to Pittsburgh and, to be honest, I 
am excited to get back on the bike, nearly as much as I was to have a break two days ago. There is something amazing about being outside most of the day, peddling along, seeing life at a slower pace and drinking in ways people live and survive in this vast landscape.
am excited to get back on the bike, nearly as much as I was to have a break two days ago. There is something amazing about being outside most of the day, peddling along, seeing life at a slower pace and drinking in ways people live and survive in this vast landscape.Travel by bicycle entices all the senses. There are the obvious physical demands, but there are also the sensations and smells that are missed at faster pace. As we traveled along the pavement, a cool, damp wave of wind let me know that a waterfall or small stream was just up ahead. There are of course the less pleasant smells of not so recent road kill that reflect the violence of car transportation. But these smells too, if depicted soon enough, can guide a cyclist in knowing that moments up the road, it will be time to swerve to avoid the carnage.
So tomorrow hop back on the bikes for a different a new adventure. We will keep you posted on what awaits us.
As I reflect on our time in TN, KY, WV and VA, the most striking commonality was people's immense generosity. Everyday we encountered kind souls who were open to helping strangers and you have caught glimpses of some of them in each of our earlier posts.
Lingering with me as we relax sans bike in a more urban setting, are the echos of the impact of our resource extraction. While logging continues 
along side mining in many of the hollers we visited, mining companies contract out the clear cutting pre- strip mining and mountain top removal. It is against the law to put the trees in the valley fill that is dumped into former streams and valleys, but in most cases rather than utilizing the timber, it is burned. There are regulations to require mining companies to "restore" the contour of the mountain they extract from, but Kenny highlighted that "variances" are sought and more often than not, in addition to destroying the mountain environment, mountain tops simple go missing.
along side mining in many of the hollers we visited, mining companies contract out the clear cutting pre- strip mining and mountain top removal. It is against the law to put the trees in the valley fill that is dumped into former streams and valleys, but in most cases rather than utilizing the timber, it is burned. There are regulations to require mining companies to "restore" the contour of the mountain they extract from, but Kenny highlighted that "variances" are sought and more often than not, in addition to destroying the mountain environment, mountain tops simple go missing. I remember the struggle of the miners, those we met and those from days gone by at the Blair Mountain massacre and the many Harlan Country strikes. These struggles were absent from the sanitized version of what mining is like at the KY Coal Mining Museum in Benham, KY. There was one mention of a mine cave in, but it was billed as 'an act of God' and those who died in it as brave, patriot miners who were working hard riski
ng their lives to get at the coal we needed. No mention of the fact that coal companies have cut corners on mine safety to increase their bottom line and often find it more affordable to pay fines rather than improve mine conditions. While mining equipment of years gone by lined cabinets, there was no display on company script, which miners were paid in and kept them indebted to the company store and homes. When we asked the docents why there was no discussion on the labor union struggles, they said they were looking into putting that into the museum, but "people don't like to hear about the bad times"(while the museum is run by the local historical society, much of its funding comes from coal companies).
ng their lives to get at the coal we needed. No mention of the fact that coal companies have cut corners on mine safety to increase their bottom line and often find it more affordable to pay fines rather than improve mine conditions. While mining equipment of years gone by lined cabinets, there was no display on company script, which miners were paid in and kept them indebted to the company store and homes. When we asked the docents why there was no discussion on the labor union struggles, they said they were looking into putting that into the museum, but "people don't like to hear about the bad times"(while the museum is run by the local historical society, much of its funding comes from coal companies).
So tomorrow hop back on the bikes for a different a new adventure. We will keep you posted on what awaits us.L- Coal mining activities we saw from the road in KY, photo above on L- missing mountain top- after moutain top removal and post "reconstruction"
2nd photo down on right- Gabriela, Wendy, Lammot, Tina, Greg and Rachel
No comments:
Post a Comment