Kentucky

[Looweewoo]

I've noticed several people here are living in the Beautiful Bluegrass State.

With our unique challenges (Bourbon, Ale8, etc) and opportunities (Horseback, mountains, etc), I thought a "Local" thread might be appropriate.

Any interest?

[Looweewoo]

Hmm... No takers yet?

[cardsfan1225]

Hi there! I'm not from KY, but very southern IN. I have lurked here forever, but posted very little. What part of KY are you from?

[Looweewoo]

Hi!

Not really from Kentucky either, but I live in east central, near Lexington. This will be my first winter here, I'm looking forward to it. Last winter I had 10 ft of snow at my front door. That gets old.

[debkeversole]

Howdy Lou!!

[Looweewoo]

Originally Posted by debkeversole

Howdy Lou!!

Hi! You just seem to pop up everywhere I go!

At some point, we might want to move this to the "Local" sub-forum. I started it here so folks from Kentucky might find it. I think we can have it moved though...

[JuliaL]

Hi Lou - I'm in Louisville Funny to hear you say you are looking forward to the winter here. I hate winter in Kentucky. Hate to bad-mouth the ol' home state, but I lived in North Carolina for 4 years and got spoiled. It's not the snow but the endless gloom in winter that bothers me. Those fronts get stuck in this Ohio valley, and we don't see the sun much from November to March.

Food and booze are not the challenges that plague me living here again. Smoking is. Eveyone smokes here! I smoked for 23 years, then quit for 5 years, and now I'm smoking again. I plan to quit again soon, but being around family members who smoke makes it difficult.

Welcome to Kentucky! Where are you from anyway?

[Looweewoo]

Well, I moved here from upper New England, where by this time of year the sun doesn't rise until 9am and sets by 5pm. Even then it was behind mountains on both sides, so it seemed more like from 11am to 3pm was all the sun we got. When it didn't snow.

I like snow, but I could learn to dislike wet cold rain. People here are already complaining.

Yeah, not to complain myself, but the smoking, cursing, gambling and drinking of Ale8 seems like a Kentucky cultural thing. I caught myself starting to curse a little last week, and I worked so hard to teach myself not to about 20 years ago. I'm around it so much I just barely noticed when I started.

But, otherwise Kentucky is BEAUTIFUL! And the girls here are so pretty! Where I came from, I was prettier than most of the young ladies. It's widely known as the home of the Horse Faced Woman. But here, I'm just dazzled every day. Not only pretty, but by my actual count, 3 out of 10 are redheads! What could be nicer?

Of course, I did notice that a lot of people are missing some teeth. Is that a problem here for some reason or am I just over conscious of it? I was thinking it's all that Ale8 Drinking.

[JuliaL]

Lou - I don't want to disparage my "out in the counties" Kentucky brethren, but you'll find that there are fewer tooth-challenged folk in the cities. Louisville is much more cosmopolitan than any of the smaller cities in Kentucky.

[Looweewoo]

Well, I will get to visit Louisville ( I need to practice how to pronounce it properly, I still say LooWeeville ) the day after Christmas, to pick up my son at the airport. I'm looking forward to seeing it, although I am afraid I will not get much of a chance to enjoy it.

I'm in a fairly small town that I don't want to announce to the whole board, but we have a little downtown and its very pretty. I live in a small apartment overlooking Main Street and it's just so quaint and 1850s looking! I'm used to towns where the main road might have a Four Way stop, so this is almost like a Big City to me.

I still haven't managed to go visit the Mountains yet, I passed though them on the way here and that's about it. But I've seen some beautiful Horse Country! Brought a tear to my eyes the first time I was out there. Drove for miles and came back through it when the Lightening Bugs were just rising out of the grass. Absolutely breathtaking.

[JuliaL]

You should try to visit Laurel River Lake in the spring. There are some beautiful lakes in the area - Dale Hollow is another one.

Oh, and it's Lou-Uh-Vull

[Looweewoo]

Originally Posted by JuliaL

it's Lou-Uh-Vull

er... Lau-eh-vall
uh... Lua-ah-vowel
um... Leu-ih-veul

I guess I need more practice.

[itzme91]

Lou,I live in South Eastern Ky probably not far from Debkeversole.If we want decent health care we don't take chances with the doctors or hospitals(better known as band-aid stations)around here,we go to Lexington or Knoxville.Had to go to Central Baptist in Lexington by ambulance in May,got the bill last week,$1582.00.This area is popular for ATV riding,deer hunting,growing pot,raising hell and occasionally stealing the neighbors husband/wife.(no I haven't)been married to the same for 32 years!!! A lot of old timers will give you a healthy shot of Jack Daniels to knock that cold,just being neighborly.

[Looweewoo]

Hey Itzme!

The other thing I noticed right away is how friendly folks are around here. I can literally stop someone on the street by saying hello, and we will stand there and talk for a while. I know more folks in this town after 4 months than I met up north in 6 years.

I have heard about all the pot growing, I'm a little past that kind of fun myself. I must be right on the edge of all the deer hunting though. I've seen a lot of deer to the east of me, but very little close to where I am. Did see some folks getting ready down by Stanton once.

How's the fishing over by where you are? Around here everybody apparently drives out to some big lake and fishes out of their boat. I keep hoping to find a little shady spot to sleep, I mean fish, with just a pole and some bacon.

[itzme91]

Lots of good fishing going on round here.Laurel Lake,Dale Hollow, Woods Creek,around Corbin/London some places in Somerset too.I like just going down to the creek and finding a good sun granny spot.Too impatient to sit long.Around here a gun or a bow isn't always needed for deer hunting lots of time a good heavy chevy will do.LOL My husband hit one on his way to work yesterday.Dented the door busted up the grill.Deer Hunting Opens in this area Saturday.
The good thing about small neighborhoods is you always have a friend and you can always depend on someone helping you if needed.
Here's a list of Ky lakes
Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources - Public Lakes Guide

[debkeversole]

Originally Posted by itzme91

Lou,I live in South Eastern Ky probably not far from Debkeversole.If we want decent health care we don't take chances with the doctors or hospitals(better known as band-aid stations)around here,we go to Lexington or Knoxville.Had to go to Central Baptist in Lexington by ambulance in May,got the bill last week,$1582.00.This area is popular for ATV riding,deer hunting,growing pot,raising hell and occasionally stealing the neighbors husband/wife.(no I haven't)been married to the same for 32 years!!! A lot of old timers will give you a healthy shot of Jack Daniels to knock that cold,just being neighborly.

YUP JD can cure a lot of ills!

[kimlou]

Ky girl here.

I used to work in Lexington (Geno's Formal Affair)few yeas ago. Then I moved to Montgomery County. Where I owned my own business ( hairdresser).
I still travel to Lex. to see my ortopaedic surgeon.
But I live close to the southern Ohio line now and just about 50 minutes from WV. I love the Huntington Mall in WV other than that I never go there.

Now as for Ale8 drinkers... my son has all his teeth,drinks Ale8 daily.

[Looweewoo]

Hi Kimlou!

I don't mean to speak badly of Ale8, I've had some and I really like it. Not the sugar free one though. That tastes nasty.

You must be almost in the mountains. I love that area, but I couldn't arrange to live there when I moved here so now I'm kinda stuck in the flatlands.

[Butternut]

My Mother was raised west Hardinsburg, KY, Rough River Dam State Park area. It's so pretty.
We are going back down to visit in a couple weeks. Not much family left down there....sad. Almost all have passed on.

[Looweewoo]

So I narrowly avoided getting stuck in "Court Day" in Mt Sterling. Apparently it's like a four day long Craft Show that takes up the whole town. I wanted to go, kinda, but didn't want to get stuck in all the traffic. Probably just as good, I would have had to resist all the food vendors, then would have ended up at a pot luck dinner. Not a good scenario for me.

[JuliaL]

Originally Posted by Butternut

My Mother was raised west Hardinsburg, KY, Rough River Dam State Park area. It's so pretty.
We are going back down to visit in a couple weeks. Not much family left down there....sad. Almost all have passed on.

Butternut - So was my mom! She was raised on a tobacco and beef cattle farm near Hardinsburg. The old home place was taken to make room for a highway a long time ago. I used to love going there when I was a kid. I still have an aunt, uncle and some cousins living in the area.

[Looweewoo]

Oooo... Chilly morning in Kentucky today! My little indoor outdoor thermometer said 35ºf when I woke up!

I live in a small upstairs apartment with bay windows and every morning I put a little bird seed out on the window ledges to attract house sparrows and this morning they are so fluffed up they look like little puff balls, completely spherical!

[JuliaL]

Yes, it is a chilly morning, but at least the sun is shining!

I was just reminiscing about the days when I would visit my grandmother and grandfather's farm in Breckenridge County. I hope I didn't offend anyone with my "out in the counties" comment earlier. Even though I grew up in Louisville, my people are from the country. I was 8 years old before my grandparents got their first indoor bathroom. Their house was heated by wood-burning stoves and they had a party line phone. I used to have so much fun playing in the pastures and ponds on their farm when I was a kid, and the food we ate there tasted so good!

I remember staying with my grandma and granddaddy for a week when I was about 12 or so. My grandma kept me hopping with chores all day - no sitting and watching cartoons on the farm like I did at home. I was sweeping, breaking beans, washing dishes, etc. I also didn't get the store-bought snacks I was used to at home, so at meal time I ate like a field hand, and enjoyed every bite. We all should be fortunate enough to sit down to a meal of all home-grown and home-raised food!

[anelth921]

I grew up in SE Kentucky and went to college at EKU in Richmond. I've been gone for 25 years now, but I still miss it. Most of my family has moved away now, so I don't get back there near enough.

But like Julia said earlier, the NC winters are a little easier to live with. I remember one year when I was in high school, we missed the entire month of January because of snow days!

[itzme91]

Anelth921,I live in SE Ky and both of my dd's go to EKU.One is at the Corbin campus and the other drives to the Richmond Campus(about an hour and a half drive).Kids still miss a lot of school due to the weather but not as much as when I was a kid.I remember not going one yr the whole month of Jan.too!Still get some flooding in some of the hollers(or Hollows as others say)LOL.Right now the schools around here have been closed because of low attendance because of the flu.Most county schools in at least 3 or 4 counties have closed at least for a few days in the last couple of weeks.Our district will probably make a decision today whether or not to close again for the rest of the week.(were ot 3 days last week)attendance is below 80% and kids are being sent home pretty much from the time they get off the bus,because of flu symptoms.
I live in an area where the mountains are absolutely beautiful this time of year and driving to Lexington seems really weird seeing all that land and no mountains.LOL
I have lived in the same neighborhood all my life (except 6 months) know all my neighbors by their names.If I need help I know I can count on someone,not always sure if it will be the deacon or a druggie but someone will come to help me.Have you ever had the blessing of seeing the deacons and the druggies all together working on a neighbors house or doing work on the church because its old and we could really use a new one but don't have the money for it.Yep sometimes living in the boonies is the pits but most of the time I wouldn't trade it for anything.

PS :If I lived much closer to the Tenn Border I'd have to hang my head in shame!LOL

[Looweewoo]

We've had two beautiful days of frost followed by bright sunshine. My morning walks are around the town, which seems to have every other road as an alley of some sort. As soon as you get off main street there are little roads that seem to have been lost in time. Folks have let the fence rows grow up, birds and squirrels live there and you get little sneak peeks in to their back yards sometimes. Every now and then their dog will come out to let the neighborhood know you are there, and quite often friendly cats cross to let you scratch their chins.

I try to go early in the morning but even so a few people will be driving out and always wave hello. I even found a small corner store I didn't know about and they were open early enough for me to go in and chat for a minute. It's only three or four blocks away and it seems like it's way out in the country. Much better than going to the CVS downtown.

Sunny and warm right now, and I hear it's going to get even warmer tomorrow. I was talking to a teenager and they didn't know what "Indian Summer" meant. What do they teach these kids now-a-days?

[JuliaL]

Originally Posted by Looweewoo

I was talking to a teenager and they didn't know what "Indian Summer" meant. What do they teach these kids now-a-days?

I guess Indian Summer is not politically correct anymore

[Looweewoo]

I didn't even think of that! You're probably exactly right. How crazy! One of the most pleasant verbal associations there is, ruined because of a few sticklers.

[Looweewoo]

Could it be a more pleasant looking morning?!?!

Cold, my widget says 37ºf, clear as a bell, with a light breeze. All the trees around here are in fall color, including an AMAZING cluster of bright red and startling yellow trees at the base of the large Church of Christ building on the hill outside my window. It's a beautiful Classically designed domed building and with the colorful trees makes a simply breathtaking sight. I wish I had a good way to post the photos.

Time for my walk.

[Looweewoo]

What a beautiful day it's been!

I keep going out to enjoy it. I love the feel of the air.