A Trip Down Possumtrot Road

Special to Free Republic ^ | 21 October 2003 | John Armor (Congressman Billybob)

[Congressman Billybob]

This will be on several internet sites including ChronWatch, and may be on UPI. But, as usual, FR has it first. Enjoy.

[4CJ]

Excellent Congressman! I wish you well in your endeavors.

[4CJ]

It's on the 'blue line' highways of America, in places that you'll never see unless you deliberately choose to go there. But it is real and it is important, as real and as important to America as the high rise apartment you might live in or the high rise building you might work in. I urge you to choose such a destination, go there, and see what you will see. It just might give you a whole new perspective on the national and international policies of the federal government.

P.S. If your legislative talents are even a fraction of you're writing and legal abilities, you'll be the finest legislator we've ever seen.

[George Smiley]

Absolutely fantastic article.

One of the things my wife and I cite when we're asked about being still married the fact that we're both the sort of folks who, during any given journey, will say "I wonder where that road goes?" and then go that way just to find out.

[Howie]

Great writing, Sir. While I was reading it I had flashbacks of growing up on a sharecropper farm in Arkansas. We never went hungry, that's about the best I can say about those times. Then towards the end I got mental images of the movie "Last of the Mohicans", what beautiful country that was where it was filmed.

I sat in the theatre after the movie to watch the credits, sure that the location would be Canada or Alaska. I was surprised that I had actually been enjoying scenery of the South.

[Howie]

Oops, meant that for the writer!

[Howie]

"It's breathtaking in the late Fall when the beech trees are a translucent yellow, the maples and oaks turn deep orange and brown, and the sumacs add a dominant red."

This line reminds me of my childhood working on a towboat, clack-clacking up the Tennesee River, it truly was a sight to remember. Of all the rivers we worked we were all in agreement this was the most beautiful, with the Hickory, and other hardwoods turning to the colors of fall.

Gliding through the Shiloh Battle Ground park was an experience I will always remember. To heck with Europe I want to see America before I die! There is so much out there if one takes the time.

[Congressman Billybob]

Your mention of The Last of the Mohicans reminded me to share a story with you. Almost ten years ago, I went to the Asheville Airport to bring home a friend of mine who was visiting from D.C.

We stopped to get sodas and crackers at a quick mart at Toxaway Dam, that's halfway between the Airport and my home. As we walked in the store, it was crowded with "local people" dressed in usual fashion. Then I noticed that these "locals" were wearing buckskin boots or shoes, and some of them were carrying flintlock rifles. We were surrounded by the extras from The Last of the Mohicans who were taking a break from shooting a scene on the bluffs above the Toxaway River.

There's actually a fairly active film industry in Western Carolina. And one documentary broadcast on Georgia Public Television was shot outside and inside my home. It was From my Grandmother's Grandmother to Me.

You're right. It is beautiful territory in these parts.

John / Billybob

[knarf]

I left Boston in 1976 for the hills of West Virginia.

One does well to leave ones own 'culture' and go to another ... and ask for directions .... even if you know where you're going.

Excellent observation CB.

[Babsig]

I enjoy your posts. I have family that lives near Mt Airy. Is that your district, if so I will encourage them to vote for you. Sorry we cannot, since we live in upstate SC.

[VOA]

Possumtrot

One of the names considered at the founding of the city we now know as Kansas City, MO.

At least that's what I heard on the trivia show "What Do You Know?".

[Carolinamom]

I like your type of campaigning...going where the people are and seeing the problems up close. You'll make the kind of Congressman that NC will be proud of. (I'm lucky to be surrounded by farms...cotton, wheat, horses, breeding cattle farms (manure smells don't bother LOL)...although close enough to drive to towns.

My children grew up working on surrounding farms in the summers and although they're now college graduates and in tech jobs, they have the highest respect for farmers, for they (kids) learned first hand the amount of work that goes into producing that good food they eat.)

[Howie]

"Country roads, take me home...."

[4CJ]

Oops, meant that for the writer!

My posts are usually filled with typos, so I understood who you were replying to.

I have enjoyed reading Congressman Billybob's posts for a number of years, I only regret that I do not live in his state and cannot vote for him.

From what I can tell about the man, he has a deep love for this country, for the freedoms that our ancestors fought for, and for the protection of those freedoms. I've never met him personally, but he strikes me as a man pained by the attacks on those freedoms, whether they be from liberals or conservatives.

He strikes me a man who shares the vision of the founding fathers, and cherishes his family, his home and country, his spiritual beliefs, and his friends. He has a passion for true freedom and seems to revel in the majesties of the outdoors, the scenic vistas undespoiled, the beauty of nature and the land in which he is blessed to live. To me, anyone that he calls friend or neighbor is blessed.

[farmfriend]

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[r9etb]

There is no room in these “bottom line” decisions for the lives lost as farmers die of despair, or sometimes even of suicide. There is no room for the loss of family farms, the breakup of families as the younger generation can no longer stay where they grew up. There is no room for a value to be placed on the need for willing and hard-working Americans to support themselves, their families, and their communities.

Didn't you hear? "The Market" will provide an alternative for this. Everybody says so.

[E.G.C.]

Oklahoma Agriculture Bump

[hattend]

BTTT

[F.J. Mitchell]

Possums don't trot, Possums don't do nuthin 'cept lay there in the road dead but still grinning, like dying is lots of fun.

[mhking]

BillyBob's journey is relevant to all, regardless of race, but I ask you all to take a look at a well-written piece from one of our own.

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