Magic’s Afoot in These Mountains: Highlands History

Written By: Donna Rhodes | Issue: 2021/11 – November

Back in the good ol’ days, the grandparents of Baby Boomers, particularly those who lived in rural areas, defined fun a lot differently than kids do today. 

Children in the early 1900s might repurpose a shovel handle for a bat, wrap a wad of gum wrappers with wax string for a ball, pick a side, smack the ball to smithereens, and call it a crackerjack day. 

In summer kids played outside and wore three layers: clothes, dust, and sweat. Knees were guaranteed to be mercurochromed, or, worse yet, merthiolated (did you know merthiolate was banned, because it contained mercury?).  

Those same knees, destined for perpetual busted-ness,  cranked calves, ankles, feet, and toes in ice skates during winter. Kids went spinning, twirling, and occasionally toppling across frozen lakes. 

But no matter the season or condition of their knees, kids of that era were having the time of their lives. 

Granted, romance colors history, but we can’t deny there was, and still is, magic afoot in these mountains.

Nowadays, our grandkids are lolling in air conditioning,  ear-budded into an electronic device as though it were life-support…and there’s no prying them and their pristine knees loose. 

I tried it once. I popped an earbud out of my grandson’s ear. 

He began to wheeze.

“Grammmmzzz,” he gasped, “Please…need earbud …can’t breathe … rattle, rasp…”

In the early 1900s, kids in Highlands would have laughed at my grandsons. They’d prefer sheep bouncing, bumping along, occasionally falling on another four-legged ball of fuzz passing by. Or having a go at birch-swinging, leaping sapling-to-sapling, never touching the ground. They were the Tarzans and Janes of the Appalachians. Sadly, the birches were fated to grow at a 45 degree angle the remainder of their slanty lives. 

It wasn’t all play and tree-bending. Children picked Galax leaves, berries, flowers, chestnuts, and more to help their family make a little extra seasonal money. Then there was crop-harvesting, followed by canning, drying, and preserving food for winter survival. 

Many of the children who grew up and moved to distant destinations came back to Highlands to rejuvenate and reflect. 

Ran Shaffner, author of Heart of the Blue Ridge shares Sarah Hines’ recollections of her Highlands childhood: “The deep chorus of bullfrogs around Ravenel Lake and the gentle lifting and falling of the water-lily pads in response to vagrant breezes, was more soul-satisfying than the technical perfection of a symphony and ballet performance in a crowded auditorium.”  

Take that, earbuds!

In addition to reading Heart of the Blue Ridge, explore local history by visiting highlandshistory.com or emailing [email protected].