another thing about asheville

Another thing about Asheville is that it's haunted. Maybe it's something about being in a mountain valley, maybe spirits get stuck there. It's not like you are walking around seeing ghosts all the time. But, you can feel them. There is heavy history hanging in the air. A bit like New Orleans. It reminds me of a wonderful passage from Dylan's memoir Chronicles about New Orleans:

The past doesn't pass away so quickly here. You could be dead for a long time. The ghosts race towards the light, you can almost hear the heavy breathing - spirits, all determined to get somewhere...

A lazy rhythm looms in the dreamy air and the atmosphere pulsates with bygone duels, past-life romance, comrades requesting comrades to aid them in some way. You can't see it, but you know it's there.

So much has happened in those mountains of North Carolina. Native Americans attacked and finally driven off on their trail of tears. Settlers attacked by Native Americans before the final blow. Civil war rivalries galore, since this area of the country was bitterly divided. I'm sure all sorts of tragedies, hard times, and memories have occurred since those colorful long ago times too. Histories building upon themselves. There are certain places that hang on to the past more than others, and Asheville is one.