Mountain Born

Mountain Born by Jean Boone Benfield is "a recollection of life and language in Western North Carolina" and I highly recommend it to any of you who have an interest in the folkways of Appalachia.

I don't know the author (who grew up in the next county) but much of what she writes is familiar to me -- and delightful!


Ms. Bennfield writes of growing up in the Forties and Fifties, of Asheville at that time, of food and farms and family life, of traditions and superstitions, and, best of all, she lists some seven hundred old words and sayings --'some not fit for polite society.'

"Helpless as a one-legged man at an ass-kicking" is one of my favorites. And "not enough sense to pee a hole in the snow." And -- well, I could go on.

For those of you who've told me that my books remind you of your grandparents or other kin, this is a book you'll love!

Thank you, Ms. Benfield, for this loving, witty, and wise compilation of memories!

In other news -- we had a whole day of sunshine yesterday! What a pleasure!