Ashe Mountain Times

Sometimes I like to stop and just give a collective pat on the back to the people of my dear Ashe County. Although we can be a cantankerous bunch when it comes to dealing with each other, we do seem to turn out and help when it is needed.

This past weekend we had ourselves one nasty set of storms come through, complete with downed trees and very high water in several places. I know I'm a newcomer, as it goes, having only been here a few years now, but I have not seen the New River and her tributaries as high as they were Saturday in that short time.

Driving down Highway 163, I saw roads and bridges I know as well as my own driveway just completely submerged, with the New River looking more as it did a century ago, than a week ago.

I began to worry a bit about folks on some of our lower elevation hollows and living along the New River, but I really shouldn't have, as neighborliness was the rule of the day.

What I witnessed as I drove around Saturday were folks out helping one another. From clearing tree limbs and clogged culverts to one fella' breaking out a backhoe to aid a neighbor whose gravel road was washed out.

In one spot where I stopped to observe a swelling stream, I had the perfect view of this type of neighborly assistance right down below me. Water had risen a bit too much in someone's bottom land and I could see a single individual struggling to get a couple of unhappy plow horses up and out of the rising water overflowing into their corral and barn from an adjacent creek. Almost as if they had been summoned by the Bat Signal, three men passing by on the road below me quickly stopped their pick-up, got out and helped get the animals up and out of the muck and to a higher spot of ground. The whole incident probably took only a few minutes and ended with a handshake, but the memory of those helping hands will last forever for the helpers and the helped.

Just as important, earlier I had seen a couple of young men (they looked to be high school age) changing a tire in a downpour, as an elderly couple sat inside dry and safe.

Those are the scenes in Ashe County that I wish we could put on postcards and vacation brochures. Those are the pictures I would love to see painted and hanging in our galleries. Sure the cheese factory is a destination, yes people pilgrimage here from all over for the frescoes, and, as we have all learned recently, thousands come to visit Mount Jefferson annually.

But those are just places; the true treasure of Ashe County is our people.

I get all kinds of letters: some nice and some not so much. But each of them has one thing in common: They are the honest feelings of the author.

Sometimes they are critical of a position taken by local elected officials and sometimes they are supportive. I receive letters that warn of scams and swindles and price gouging. Some even report overlooked, received, criminal activities. And some are just honest misunderstandings of issues.

But all of them offer solutions that are meant to help all of us.

I wish that the folks who write me would come out and get involved with local government. You folks would be surprised what you could get done by organizing a little bit.

I see how good you are when you want to be, because I've seen you jump into the mud to help a neighbor and dig deep into your pockets to help someone in need.

 

You did good this weekend Ashe County; no life or property was lost, at least that has been reported so far. You proved once again why we choose to live here. Thanks for the reminder.