This Side of the Mountain

This Side of the Mountain James Gage The first faint green fuzz is on the hillside, there can be no doubt. During those long, cold winters of years past, we would pose the question, If spring is here, can winter be far behind?—as if it were a charm to assure the coming of spring. But winters are shorter. There's a hole in the ozone layer. It's warmer at the poles. Winter has not hardly had a chance. So let this Appalachian Heritage be a Winter Commemorative issue, for winter may soon be a thing of the past, something we'll swear was so to our great-grandchildren, who'll squinch up their eyes from all that sun, then look uncertainly to their parents for help out of an embarrassing senior situation. This Winter 2001 Appalachian Heritage contains a lot of good reading, as always. G.C. Compton's irreverent look at Appalachian funeral customs will brighten your day. West Virginian Steve Salaita's visit to his ancestral homeland in Jordan offers an unusual perspective to being Appalachian. Bill Best's return to the subjects of an essay which appeared in this magazine nearly twenty-five years ago is a touching reminder of the wisdom of Ecclesiastes regarding time and change, while Truman Fields's family memory of the Civil War affirms how the past lives with us. In this issue are also new stories, poems, photographs and notes regarding new Appalachian books. So curl up by the old Warm Morning or Papa Bear or crackling fireplace and enjoy this Winter 2001 Appalachian Heritage, even if it's a might uncomfortable in all this heat. Winter is a serious thing to lose. ...