Friday, December 22, 2006

Tobacco Barns in Kentucky and other places

Radio blogging here.

Looking for something else at NPR I noticed this great little story in the sidebar: Tobacco Barns: Stately Relics of a Bygone Era. A little under eight minutes, it takes me back to my childhood in Kentucky with descriptions of stripping rooms, barns and the tobacco culture in general. My Dad's family were mostly tobacco farmers and I know the smells and scenes of every stage of raising burley tobacco. One of the great advantages of being a kid is that you're too small physically to be much help, so its okay to just observe and ask questions (if you don't ask so many you get on people's nerves when they are trying to work or have a conversation about something else).

Not recommended for everyone, but for anyone whose roots are even a little bit rural, this snip will transport you to another time and place. Garrard County and Poosey Ridge in Madison County make cameo appearances. These are places in easy driving distance from Richmond, Madison County, where I was born and reared.

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