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I’m originally from West Virginia. I grew up in the shadow of the Appalachian mountains. We lived in a small-ish town that thrived on the six degrees of separation. If you didn’t know one person, you probably knew someone who knew them.
I’m fluent in hillbilly, and although I don’t actively speak it, I can translate for you anytime you need me to. This can come in handy here in Florida, where we have the same kind of people but call them rednecks (because we don’t have hills. har har.)
We’ve lived in Florida for over three years, but sometimes I forget I’m not still in West Virginia. I’ve experienced more than a few double-takes at the grocery store when I see someone who looks like a high school classmate or someone I knew in college. Once when I was pregnant, I tried to put my old WV address on our baby registry. I still call soft drinks “pop” instead of soda.
The most telling sign I’m not in West Virginia anymore is when I mentioned the mothman to my work friends the other day and was met with silence. And crickets.
According to Wikipedia, where I conduct all my research for this blog (which is also a good reason why you shouldn’t believe anything I write):
The Mothman is a cryptid reportedly seen in the Point Pleasant area of West Virginia from November 15, 1966, to December 15, 1967.[1] Most observers describe the Mothman as a man-sized creature with large reflective red eyes and large wings. The creature was sometimes reported as having no head, with its eyes set into its chest.
As crazy as this sounds, the above statement? Is NBD for me. This is normal. This is what I’ve heard about my whole life.
Imagine me trying to explain all this to my co-workers.
Me: “Well, you see, Point Pleasant, it’s on the river, right? So back in the sixties, there were all these reports of a moth that was the size of a grown man.”
My boss: “A moth you said? Like, one that flies around?”
Me: “Yes! Exactly! and people were all, ‘oh, he’s really creepy and has big red eyes and stuff. and wings.’ and the moth would appear randomly, but mostly at night. And this one bunch of teenagers saw him at the TNT factory, which has these big bunkers and stuff, so people thought he lived there. And it went on for a month or so, then there was a big bridge collapse and nobody saw him after.”
My coworker: “So he made the bridge collapse?”
Me: “Well, no, he might have been trying to warn people that it was going to collapse.”
And I didn’t even mention that there is a statue and a festival and a whole tourist industry revolving around the mothman.
Do you have any weird urban legends in your neck of the woods that might get you some strange looks away from home?
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Hello have none of them seen the movie The Mothman Prophecies with Richard Gere?? I love that movie LOVE It… oh well I am also a neighbor in KY so I would get it right.
Angel recently posted..Let’s talk Bible truth about the place of a woman in the church.. I tip my hat to Gucci
They hadn’t seen it at all!! I was like, You know, Richard Gere? The one with the giant moth? You don’t even remember seeing trailers for it?
Twitter: mrsmidatlantic
My hometown is too pretentious to have weird urban legends. On the other hand, some of the historial figures from my home town are totally crazy by themselves – and they were real people! I guess the town figured they had enough famous crazies, without needing to add fake ones too.
Mrs. MidAtlantic recently posted..Nothing Missed
Famous crazies are just as good as gigantic moth people!
Twitter: audcole
Not so much an urban legend, but a weird sculpture. My hometown is about 10 miles from the town where President Reagan was raised. So, that town has lots of little things related to him, to politics, peace, etc. The most “famous” is right by a church. It has a replica of the Berlin Wall and a sculpture called Wings of Peace. Except it looks like male anatomy… with wings on it. It’s one of those “Oh my goodness, is that a … ?!?” moments. So, naturally, if I am back home and have anyone with my who hasn’t been there before, we make an immediate trip to the Flying (Male Anatomy). This isn’t the best picture, but enough to get the idea: http://binged.it/nnIhcQ I love crazy hometown lore!
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That is super fantastic! Reminds me of the bronze “turnip” knick knack hanging on my mother in law’s kitchen wall. You have to wonder why nobody stepped back when they were sculpting and said, “you know what that’s looking like…??”
Hahaha! Well I’m from a super small town in North Florida (shout out to Madison County) where you’re lucky if you have 6 degrees of separation, in most cases you can find a connection in 2 or 3 LOL! And rednecks are very prevalent
jessica@domesticated-bliss recently posted..Birchbox: August
what town? I’m in Gainesville! Yes, rednecks are all around. I’m totally used to it though….same kind of people as are up north, except they are called hillbillies there
(WV native) I just want to add that while the Mothman Prophecies may hail to a real urban legend, Wrong Turn does NOT. So stop asking.
Twitter: SaidKristin
This whole post cracked me up. As you know – because we’ve had this discussion – I currently live in West Virginia. And i’ve never heard of the mothman.
Maybe because I’m not a WV native.
Thank God.
Kristin @ What She Said recently posted..Blogoversary Bling: A Stella & Dot Giveaway!
Right? Thank your lucky stars for that. Although you probably can at least translate a little hillbilly, being that close?
I love picturing you trying to explain Moth-Man. Just for the record, I bet your co-workers were grateful for the distraction from doing their work, even if you may have been the topic of conversation at the water cooler later on
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Thankfully, this wasn’t the weirdest conversation we’ve ever had at my office! The best part was halfway through when I realized how crazy it sounded, but I was already committed to the story!
Twitter: funnyorsnot
We have Jake the Alligator man in these parts and I believe all things Wikipedia are the truth anyway.
Oh don’t get me started on Wikipedia. My love for it know no bounds.
I love Urban Legends.
And I call it “pop” too.
Angie@MamaInsomnia recently posted..Get Ready to Free FALL!!
Pop is how cool people say it!!
Twitter: amymacsmusings
This gave me belly laughs! Now you know that talking about the Mothman made you homesick for us back here in WV, for about 2.5 seconds. *Giggle*
Amy recently posted..The Story of My Baby’s Birth
The teensy, tiniest bit…oh who am I kidding
The MothMan is a little weird, but I love it anyways cause it is home! I have my picture taken with that statue
Mariah recently posted..Showering!
Me too! It’s a must for any west Virginian, I think!
Twitter: motherhoodtruth
LOL this is funny, here we have Big Foot….or the legend of Big Foot, i haven’t found him yet, although when I was a kid and saw Harry and the Hendersons I was afraid of our mountains cause I didn’t want my parents to hit Big Foot….hmmm….
Danielle recently posted..Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day!
I loved the movie, Mothman Prophecies.
Where I was born & raised, there is a “white witch” urban legend. It’s hard to explain, but there’s a canyon road that is really twisty turny and my dad used to tell me a white witch lived in the hills out there. I think she was a bride that died on her wedding day or something. I really forget most of the story, but I remember which road you can take to supposedly get to where she is.
And now I realize they tell the story as if she’s a ghost, but they call her a witch. That’s weird, right?
Roxanne recently posted..Agnes prepares for a date with Henry
Totally weird, but also cool. Looks like another story I’ll be looking up on Wikipedia today
I wonder what happens when you get to where she is? I mean, presumably she’ll kill you, but wonder what else?
My good friend here in TN is from a small town called Paris. They have a gigantic catfish statue in their town, and an annual festival that includes a parade n – wait for it – catfish RACES.
I would do almost anything to go to a catfish race.
Twitter: AwesomeHutch
I can relate to the hillbilly/redneck transition. I tried to explain to people how a suburb of Sacramento was actually a cow town when I was growing up (now serious suburbia with strip malls) and they don’t get it. Until I tell them about the not so proud of my town moments like confederate flags and other stuff I don’t want to put out there on the internets. I think I would have much preferred a moth man.
Speaking of confederate flags, there is a town here near Tampa that has a HUGE ASS CONFEDERATE FLAG that’s just flying away..I think even over some type of important community building. The lesson here? They are EVERYWHERE.
I’ve got nothing but I totally remember seeing something about Mothman on Paranormal State! Knowing that this could be outside would freak me out.
The funny thing is, people in Pt. Pleasant are all, “yeah, mothman. What of it?” Nobody cares! Crazy.
Um, you forgot to mention the Mothman MUSEUM. Oh, hi, have I mentioned I’m from Ohio?
HA! Yes! The museum! I mean they are not joking around about mothman up there. You hear me, girl! Thanks for making me feel like I’m not certifiable
Where in Ohio?
It wasn’t my hometown, exactly, but where I finished up high school there was a hill…I don’t remember what it was called, but if you put your car at the bottom of the hill in neutral, it would start to go backwards UP the hill. They said that if you put flour on the hood of the car, you would see the handprints of the ghost that was pushing it. Not quite the same, but you know…it’s something!
And I saw the Mothman Prophecies movie! So I don’t think you’re crazy
WOAH. Now that’s a cool urban legend. I mean, probably a natural phenomenon but isn’t it sort of fun to think that it’s paranormal? But that’s just me because I love me some ghost stuff…(ghosts…not gigantic moth).
Twitter: MamasMonologues
Picturing you trying to explain that made me laugh! I’m from NJ so I have tried to explain the Jersey Devil to people. I’m usually greeted with the sound of crickets when I’m finished. Ahem.
Kimberly recently posted..Always Be Right There
JERSEY DEVIL!?!? Headed to Wikipedia now. See, I just blindly believe that something like that is a thing instead of looking at you (virtually) like you’re stupid
My husband was born in WV and some of his family still lives there. I’m going to ask him if he knows about this.
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YES! Please do and report back with what he knows. Where in WV? I’ve found like a crap ton people who are from or live near WV because of this post. Freaky.
Twitter: jaimesstory
I am originally from WV as well…not from Mt. Pleasant though and I left when I was about 11. Um, hello, have these people never seen the Richard Gere movie?!?!?!
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Twitter: jmomiller
I find it extremely odd that no one you work with had heard of the Mothman before!?! What is wrong with America! I mean they even have a movie!
EXACTLY. It could not be easier to know about the Mothman…I mean it had Richard Gere in it! I’m sure it still plays on random TV channels all the time.
Never heard of that, but here in Texas people talk about the Chupacabra. I had no idea what that was until my husband told me. I’m convinced it’s our dog!
Rach (DonutsMama) recently posted..I’d Rather be a Benchwarmer
I love that so many people are commenting with weird urban legends from their places….gives me lots to look up on Wikipedia
I’m from Cleveland, but I have conspiracy-theory relatives who actually believe the Mothman was spotted in the sky above both the World Trade Center AND the Pentagon on 9/11.
I know. Implausible on so many levels. I would totally hit the museum though.
NO WAY. I love it so much. I wish I would have heard this conspiracy theory before I told my work friends about it…maybe that would have made them more interested.
Twitter: AndiRRT
I thought of that movie just the other day, I swear!
We have a girl from work, incidentally also named Amanda. She swears by soething called “hot dog sauce”. We tried to get her to explain it to us, and she kept getting agravated: “No, NOT chili!!!!” What else, other than ketchup or chili, is a sauce that can go on a hot dog?!?
Amanda, I need your WV roots to help me out on this enigma!
Andrea recently posted..Fourth Grade
OK, I got this. We call it sauce. It’s totally chili — in fact, it’s much like the Skyline type chili. Sometimes it has less meat or is a little finer. so basically, she doesn’t know that it’s really just chili but is called sauce in some circles. I would tell you what they call it down here, but there are NO HOT DOG SHOPS TO BE FOUND…which makes me incredibly sad.
Twitter: AndiRRT
I am swooning because you know what Skyline is! For reals. You are now my hero!
And I am now going to tell Miss ‘Manda that you said it was chili, too. Ha!
Andrea recently posted..A Self-Portrait at 3 AM
OK, not only do we KNOW what Skyline is, WE LOVE SKYLINE. My sister and her husband live in Taylor Mill and my Mom and Dad live in Highland Heights…across the river from you! So I know all about that area.
Twitter: AndiRRT
Sister-Friend! I am from Cincinnati, but I live and work in N. KY. I am most likely down the road from both your parents and your sister! Too funny. As a matter of fact, you probably know the hospital for which I work, too.