some time in coal country

during the first few weeks in Big Stone, i frequently noticed men dressed in dark jumpsuits with orange or yellow bands around each extremity. i thought, man there are a lot of firefighters around here. but the dark soot on their faces enlightened me. of course, these were coal miners. an industry that to me seemed antiquated and almost not real. even after 8 weeks being in coal country, i still don't know a lot. but i'm going to share some thoughts anyway.

my awareness of the presence of the coal industry...well...it was slow. in addition to the faux firefighters, there were several odd chutes that would cross over a road or highway. one was surrounded by a royal blue cylinder that had such a low clearance, i didn't think a semi could pass. one reason for my apparent blindness was that Big Stone had no coal. their mountains were rich in their beauty rather than rich in fossil fuel. but many residents worked or had family that worked in the near by mines. a patient recommended that i read a novel called Big Stone Gap, the first of a trilogy of books, set in the small town. the focus of the book was not coal, however the author did describe a little bit of what a mine would look like. a mine can penetrate a mountain as far as 5 miles with some areas only being big enough to crawl on your belly. as the tunneling grows, the roof has to be reinforced to prevent cave ins. one day i had a patient who's occupation was "roof bolter." i don't know anything about roofing, but i remembered about the mines. his job was to place the bolt after a machine had drilled a hole in the roof. being the deepest in the mine possible and operating a machine that drills...its obvious why this is considered the most dangerous job in mining. aside from morbid threats, miners also face knee pain, back and neck pain and the obvious black lung.

i learned to open my eyes and ears to learn more about mining culture. as my mother and i drove into Kentucky over Black Mountain, we could look back and see a mountain face, destroyed by strip mining. a chunk from the side, just gone. farther into Kentucky, you could see how little towns were there only for the coal industry. it seemed that every other car had that image of a coal miner on his belly window sticker, "i've got friends in low places." but at the same time, ive been told that the industry struggles, as cleaner, more environmentally friendly sources of fuel are becoming more popular.