Local blogger receives international attention

By Emolyn Liden
Sentinel Writer

Writer Tipper Pressley, the maker behind the Blind Pig and the Acorn website, says she stumbled upon the idea to start an online blog.  Whether happenstance or not, the site has began to turn the heads of readers worldwide.  “I designed a business plan and began from scratch,” said Pressley.  “I always thought blogs were for businesses or the news.  I’d never done anything like it before, but I wanted to give it a try.”

Pressley began writing about what she knows best: her Appalachian heritage.

Born and raised in Brasstown, cocooned in the lifestyle which she now explores on her site, Pressley is finding that she has an endless amount of material to work with.  “I have always had a passion for the history of our area, folk lore, wives tales, and preserving the old ways,” she said.  “I want to show how the past can be remembered, appreciated in the present, and used for the future.”  Interestingly she uses modern technology to do so; a digital camera, a computer, and the internet.

Pressley’s website, blindpigandtheacorn.com, is now two years old.  Currently the site has three hundred and seventy subscribers and averages two thousand five hundred views per week.  “As it went on, I really latched on to it,” commented Pressley.  “In beginning I thought, ‘What am I going to talk about?’ Now I think I can’t talk about it quick enough!”

“I’ve run across a lot of folks from this area and the larger Appalachian region who are still do a lot of old things. They have modern technology but still garden the way their daddy told them to and can food like their granny told them to.”

With her blog, Pressley has created a space to celebrate the rich culture of southern Appalachia.  Rather than building a static website, she has worked to develop an interactive online forum.  “Blogs provide instant gratification,” said Pressley.  “When I post an article, people write back.  The readers comment and ask questions.  It’s a conversation online.”

The subscriber base has grown and continues to do so.  Readership spans from Oregon to England, across the United States to Australia, and from small country towns to large cities.  “Many of my readers live where they can’t hear the chickens, see the cows, or have a garden.”  Not everyone has access to land to grow a garden or facilities to preserve food but they often fondly remember someone who once did.  About an article on bleaching apples, a lady commented, “I’ve not thought of that since I was a tiny girl.”  In addition Pressley has written about sleepy summer days, mountain traditions, Appalachian sayings, and even resurrected letters written during the Civil War.

“It is gratifying how many people long for it,” said Pressley who has received letters from people who once lived in Appalachia, who are traveling far from home, or may simply be pleased to have remembered something about their heritage.