Ruralite Cafe: Published 01/25/01

By Lynn Hotaling - Associate Editor

Letter to Sugar Fork

It simply was not safe to have either the television or radio turned on, so I sought help from my special bookshelf - the one where I keep books that are so good I know I'll want to read them again.

It was a hard choice, but I finally settled on Chapel Hill author Lee Smith's "Fair and Tender Ladies." The title, by the way, was inspired by a poem written by Kay Byer of Cullowhee. I first read the book some 10 years ago.

As I was once more captivated by the story of Ivy Rowe, told exclusively through letters she writes over the course of a lifetime lived mostly in an isolated Appalachian hollow, I noticed some things I missed the first time time around.

While it's still just about the most wonderful book I've ever read - right up there with Harper Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird," I was struck on this second reading by the parallels with what I'm watching happen to Jackson County.

When Ivy is a girl, her home up on Blue Star Mountain is so far back there's not even a road to it. The letters she sends to her family and friends are peppered with references to "progress." Many of the letters are never mailed; instead, they represent Ivy's way of sorting through her thoughts and figuring out what to make of a particular thing.

I thought I'd try my hand at it. And so, with appreciation to Smith for creating a fictional character real enough to write to, here is my letter back to Ivy.

Dear Ivy,

I've been reading your letters for awhile, and I've been struck by the changes that have come to your little valley.

Many would call it progress, I suppose, but it sounds like you think something precious has been lost as the modern world has reached farther and farther up Sugar Fork towards your home. It seems sad that most of it happened without your consent and was pretty much beyond your control.

We're trying hard to have some say in what takes place over here in Jackson County where I live. Our leaders have gotten together and decided to hold meetings all around to see just exactly what folks want to keep like it is, and what they hope to see changed for the better.

So many people here love these mountains and this county and want to look out for it, but they all seem to have different ideas about how to go about it. Most likely you could tell us a thing or two about letting outsiders in to take only what they want without regard to the mess they leave behind them. As you wrote in one letter, you've had to watch things around Home Creek grow up in what you called "a tacky way."

It sounds like your place up on Blue Star Mountain must have been in the middle of paradise once.

I know what you mean about "tacky." Some people around here have gotten pretty trashy. It's hard to believe we had to spend time at the big county meeting talking about finding a way to cut down on litter and the trash folks throw out their car windows or over the creek banks. You'd think people would have been raised better than to go around making a mess that others to have to gather up.

And every time I go to one, there's talk about clean water and how important it is for our tourist industry that we have pretty, clear streams. Seems like folks would know that if they scrape off the side of a mountain to make a golf course or build a big house, that dirt's going to wash. And of course it's going to end up in the nearest branch. I guess you've seen plenty of that after that strip-mining they did up on Bethel Mountain caused those wash-outs you wrote your sister about.

Anyhow, Chairman Jay and the others hope that once we're through with the meetings, they'll be able to tell what kind of rules and regulations people want passed so we can have some say in what kind of growth and development happens around here. At these meetings, after everyone has said what they like about the county and want to save, we go around and put stickers by the ones that are most important to us. They say they're going to tally up the different votes from all over the county and make a report of what people think about it.

I sure hope it works. After all, there just aren't many corners of the world as pretty as Jackson County. I know you haven't been here, but it must be sort of like your mountains in Virginia used to be.

It's hard for me to figure. Just about everybody that talks at these meetings says we have to save our trees and water and views, but like I said, they all seem to have a different idea of what that means and how to go about it. And I wonder what's going to be left to save by the time we get started on it.

Seems like every weekend, driving up into Canada (N.C. 281), we see another road where a road has never been before. I wonder how long it will be before there aren't any wild places left around here.

Jackson County is sure at a crossroads. Maybe everyone can find a way to work together so we can balance so-called progress with preservation of the essence of our special place. Seems like this county's biggest blessing - it's abundant water and beautiful scenery - could be its downfall if we don't do something to prevent over development.

I remain your worried friend,

Lynn

Back to Archive: 01/25/01.