its funny how you can live somewhere for awhile before you start to realize how cool you neighbors are. about 15 months ago i moved out to Hot Springs, NC (POP 630). i loved the fact that it was a small mountain town. but it wasn’t until i started hitching into asheville this past week that i really got to know some of my neighbors. i heard stories of campaigns past, like the time a few years ago that the town fought and won a battle against a new Wackenhut prison in the town. Then there was the struggle for a fire department in Walnut Creek. The town folk finally said “fuck you” to the county commissioners and just built their own fire house and forced the county to pay for it. that’s cool.

And now there’s all kinds of things that folks are working on. Madison county is under assault from the suburban sprawl of Asheville. Folks here are militantly against the destruction of the mountains and rivers. From billboard liberation to petitions and an array of things in between, folks are organized. The town is currently fighting against two big projects: a cell phone tower on Rush Mountain and the widening of Route 209.

Both are of great interest to me, but especially the second one. I live off of 209 - a wooded, curvy, skinny mountain road. its a great road to bike on. widening it will only serve on purpose: housing development. We don’t need it. Folks live here because of the amazing connection to the mountains and wild areas. Outside developers only care about the area for profit. They’ve already bought up most of the county and driven up the prices to insane amounts. Its the start of the gentrification of the backwoods. More Floridian second-homers are waging their war on the wild and locals.

Its been great to hear of all this organizing going on in such a small town. It has inspired me to get away from my computer, step out of the woods, and continue the struggle. It made me realize two things: hitchhiking is a great way to get to know people, and we all need to look at what we take for granted in new ways.