Jobless rate increases for 45 of 55 W.Va. counties

[theHandpuppet]

4. Most of my father's people are from Pike Co., KY and Williamson, WV

Though we have an untold number of cousins, owing to a surname that is common in and specific to Appalachia.

My gr-grandfather died when my grandfather was small, so in order to feed a really large brood, my gr-grandmother became a cook for a coal mining camp. My grandfather recalled that all the miners were fed first so when it was time for the children to eat, all that was left was flour and grease. Every day, he said, it was the same thing --- biscuits and gravy for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Now I happen to love biscuits and gravy but when that's about all you ever have to eat I'm sure it gets old really fast. As an adult my grandfather would never touch biscuits and gravy again -- said he had so much of it as a kid that just looking at it gave his stomach a turn.