The Purpose of this Blog

This is a blog about wild and weird West Virginia: family traditions, the Mothman, antique hunting, my favorite places, books and more. It’s a veritable Cabinet of Curiosities. Working at FSU, I have been fortunate to learn more about our Appalachian heritage and the preservation of story through the tireless work of Dr. Judy P. Byers and the Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center. I love West Virginia ghost lore by Ruth Ann Musick, Dennis Deitz and many others. I am an enthusiastic fan of our state’s monsters--Mothman and the Flatwoods Monster—and I find Gray Barker fascinating. (I can only read about them in the daylight.) I am a genealogist and a collector of collections. I’m domestically challenged, so you’ll probably find stories about my attempts at learning to cook and to sew. Bear with me.