Some old views in western North Carolina mountains

George Vanderbilt's summer hunting lodge on 1920s postcard. Built in 1897 this property was part of the Biltmore estate near Asheville, NC.

The other side of the economic coin, a holler takes you home. Many people lived up in the hollers in these mountains. They had everything to meet their needs, and some didn't even know they'd be considered poor.

Chimney Rock, 1935 in Rutherford County. It's still a big tourist attraction.

In 2013 I visited Chimney Rock with visitors from out of state.

Another postcard, of the railroad coming to black mountain. I love that there's a little train in the forebround, going over a waterway, and then losing itself into a huge rendering of Andrews Geyser. There really are many twists and turns and tunnels on this stretch of the way. These days only freight trains go through these loops.

Sharing with Sepia Saturday this week. There is some relation between the train and the bus, and there were many old cars in the parking lot too! 

Today's quote:

"The fundamental job of the imagination in ordinary life, then, is to produce out of the society we have to live in, a vision of the society we want to live in."  Northrop Frye,

 

What North Carolina used to stand for...

There is is, Seal of the state of North Carolina.

Though I disagree with many of the decisions our founding fathers made, I try to understand where they were coming from.  England mainly.  Eighteenth century.  Being colonial.  Being people who used chamber pots or outhouses.  Being people who had baths only once a year if that.  Being people who had a zillion children, but only a few lived to adulthood.  Being people who never saw a doctor throughout their lives.  Being people who might live to 50 if they were fortunate.

I'm sharing this post with Sepia Saturday, just for the fun of it.  I'm not exactly on the theme, but look at the women standing there...don't they remind you of someone?

OK, now to understand this Seal business.  Keep scrolling down.

This seal commemorates meetings by important NC men (no women of course, remember 1775 and what women spent their time doing!)  But wait, one of those dates is "thought to be the date of the Mecklenberg Declaration of Independence."  Why don't they know, if they have it on the seal, and the flag?

I wonder if there's a secret about that date that only the "in" people know.

Oh well.  I just grin when I see "to be rather than to seem" as the state motto.  The republicans in our legislature are sure following that...being just whatever the heck they want to be.  If you haven't seen anything on the news about Moral Mondays, here's a bit of info to get you started. water-element, remembering-why, demonstrations-with-aging-hippies, and forgiveness.

If you live in another state in the US, what does your state seal represent?  I grew up in Texas and Missouri, and learned a little about what those states' histories were like.

The main thing in my mind today is, how does our current government represent those values?