When I moved to Nashville and bought my first home, I immediately began to think about the equipment  I would need to keep my yard in order.  My Dad took me out to the lawn-care business back home and bought me a fantastic little Shindaiwa weedeater, and then Papaw gave me one of his trusty push mowers.  I was ready to go.

Fast forward three years to 2008. I still mow my yard every single week, but I am becoming concerned as many of my friends pay someone to mow their yard for them. Maybe it has to do with pure economics, but I don't thinks so.  I think it has to do with how you are raised, and I for one cannot stand the thought of sitting around while someone else mows my yard.  Many say they do not have time to devote to yard work, but my response is simple.  Make time!  

This past weekend while at home celebrating Father's Day... Papaw, Dad and I did just that. We mowed the yard and we did it the old fashioned way. We did it ourselves.

So far, I've just focused on the Shenandoah Valley. However, with the thought of extending this examination, I thought that I would find some interesting numbers to work with in Alabama. For starters, I found this an interesting item for consideration (the full text of which is available through http://www.swannco.net/1st_Ala_Cav/1sthurst.html) ...

"Consider Alabama, the only state for which I have the figures handy. A Deep South state, the location of the first capitol of the Confederacy, yet 23 counties voted the 'Cooperationist' ticket. In Winston County, not a single vote was cast for secession. In the 23 loyalist counties, the vote was 21,665 to 12,042. However, the plantation states wielded the power, and in the slave-holding plantation counties, 24,865 voted to secede and 6,965 voted to remain. The totals for the state were 28,630 to remain in the Union and 36,907 for secession. Barbour, Bibb, Butler, Henry, Lowndes, Marengo, Pike and Russell Counties tallied no Cooperationist votes. Thus, 43.7% of the voters of the ostensibly solid Confederate state voted to remain within the Union."

As for the Southern Loyalist Claims for the above-listed counties of Barbour (0), Bibb (11), Butler (3), Henry (0), Lowndes (0), Marengo (0), Pike (0) and Russell (2), they only totaled 16. By comparison, but still within the state of Alabama, I looked at St. Clair County and all the counties surrounding it. I don't have the referendum numbers handy, but while there were sixteen total claims in the eight counties mentioned above, in St. Clair County alone there were sixteen who applied for Unionist claims. Meanwhile in the counties that border St. Clair... Etowah (4), Calhoun (1), Talladega (0), Shelby (23), Jefferson (76) and Blount (14) account for a total of 118 Southern Loyalist Claims (including St. Clair, that makes for a total of 134 for that small block of counties in the northeast/central part of Alabama). I'd be curious to see what these people had to say about the referendum vote in their respective counties, not to mention how the referendum vote played-out in each of these counties.