That’s “Hill-William” To You, Sir!

These are various pictures of my grandmother’s farm out in Red Hot, in Greenup County, Kentucky.  Much of eastern Kentucky is comparable to West Virginia in terrain, so as you can imagine, you make good use of every foot of flat land that can be found.  This farm is 105 acres, and of that maybe 30 acres are flat enough to be put to agricultural use. 

            The first is a photograph of the lower end of the farm in wintertime.  The house, barn, and smokehouse can be seen, all three structures are over sixty years old.  On the southern edge of the property, Tygarts Creek – one of the tributaries of the Ohio River – can be seen.  Beyond Tygarts, Rt. 7, which spans the entire breadth of Greenup County, is in the background.

This next photograph is a photograph of Tygarts Creek.  This creek offered all sorts of recreational opportunities to the children growing up nearby.  Cold, deep pools of water up to ten feet deep to cool you off on those sticky July days.  An endless abundance of muskie, bass, and bluegill to be caught.  In the particular picture, the creek is rather low – in spring when the rain pours for three days straight, this creek will often rise twenty feet above the level shown here.

The next is a photograph of me filling one of the deer feeders we have positioned at key spots on the farm.  As anyone who utilizes this strategy knows, fifty pounds of corn in one feeder will only last two days, so this tends to be quite a costly venture. 

            The fourth photograph is of a tree stand my father and I built.  As you can see we found three trees (the tree on the left forks at the base) that form somewhat of a rectangle.  From this we were able to fabricate a platform stand, complete will walls – and yes – a tarpaulin roof.

            The final photograph is the payoff you will receive for the hours put in such tasks as building your own tree stand and filling those feeders every few days.  This guy was taken last fall in the very first hour of that tree stand being used. 

            Honestly, I couldn’t begin to list the multitude of Appalachian ideals espoused to my experiences with this particular piece of land.  Every nook and every cranny of this property brings back memories.  From the various implements contained within that musty, creaky old barn to the yearly battles struggling to contain the scrub and brush from escaping its borders to the rather smallish, humble home you see – all emblematic of the Appalachian ideals of hard work and humility.