Trucking Tuesday and Edith...She was a Bad, Bad Seed

today was trucking tuesday here on ASP. we jumped in head first into our project. we kicked out the roof, which means that we set up supports so we could finish deconstructing what was supporting it. we also got to dig out three two foot holes, and poured cement into them to act as a foundation for the new porch. tomorrow, hopefully, we will frame the whole porch and start decking it.
this evening was also culture night. as many of you know, and by many of you, i mean probably nobody, Mingo Country, WV is home to the famous Hatfield v. McCoy feud. we were lucky enough to have Sonya Hatfield-Hall come and tell us all about the feud. the feud was basically over a pig, with whom both families laid claim to, which is no laughing matter, even though it is pretty funny, but a serious matter none the less, because a pig can feed a family through out a winter. eventually the matter went to trail, again no laughing matter, with 3 McCoys and 3 Hatfield's acting as a jury. after a day of debating finally one of the McCoys sided with the Hatfield's, and the Hatfield's won the pig... Sonya did happily report though that the feud has past and as she put it, "the Hatfield's and McCoy were marrying before the feud, during the feud and will continue to marry from now until the end of time."

Sonya happened to be a professional storyteller and spun us some yarns as the sunset. she told us that one thing that separates Appalachian people from others is that they "still believe in scaring the bejezzus out of children to get them to behave" she told us the story of the the dreaded Rawface Bloodybones, an evil pig carcass who eat little Edith because "she was a bad, bad seed." so to sum up what i learned today: Pig Trials are no laughing matter because people's survival are at stake, and don't trip you grandmother as she is carrying pails full of milk like Edith, or a pig carcass will eat you alive...