Take Me Home, Country Roads

Sunset starts early in my West Virginia hills. At 3pm today, I already needed my lights on driving through the valleys along Route 250.

I haven't spent as much time among other hills and mountain ranges, but I always notice the particular way the rising and setting sun hits just one side of the trees along the hillsides. It almost looks like one side of the tree trunks and branches is a different brighter color than the other side. Am I the only one who notices this?

I've easily spent about half of my life living on flatter ground. I've lived in places where the sun doesn't slowly rise and fade behind high, majestic hills. Early on, it seemed so strange to be able to see so far. The sky wasn't so big where I grew up.

My relationship with West Virginia is a strange one. I grew up always knowing I'd leave. But I'm fiercely proud of growing up there, and loyal to my home state.

Today, I loved pointing out landmarks to my daughter. From my high school, to her old school (we moved back for a few years), to where an old boyfriend lived... And then it made me sad when she pointed out several houses and buildings literally just falling down from neglect.

I grew up well off in West Virginia. Even when my dad was out of work, we had strong family support. And my dad got out there, worked for less while he had to, and then worked his way up at a better job. My mom went back and finished her degree. I like to think I inherited and learned my strong work ethic from them.

West Virginia has always had to fight to stay alive, it seems, but I still see signs of her dying when I look around. In Research Triangle Park, NC, fully half of those I worked with were West Virginia natives. For decades, well educated West Virginians have fled the state. Sure, there are exceptions. NASA and other high tech jobs in North Central WV, the Eastern panhandle being within DC commuting distance, and a lot more I'm sure I don't know about since living away. But my husband couldn't make a decent living there as a mechanical engineer, nor could I in market research, other than working remotely for a Michigan-based company.

The state population today (always less than 2 million total) is still less than it was when I was growing up, and my home county in particular has probably lost more than its fair share - where once several coal mines dotted the landscape, none are left operating in Marion County, WV.

My hometown was a boomtown in the very early 1900s, but it is sad to me that it may never see anything like that again. The interstates may have helped to save WV, but mostly folks use those roads to travel across it when they must. Maybe you've been skiing or white water rafting in West Virginia? Well, at least then you may remember that it's a state.

I still constantly hear stories of those who don't recall or perhaps never learned that West Virginia has been a separate state from Virginia since 1863. I've personally run into that ignorance several times.

My challenge to you is this: if you've never really visited West Virginia, you should; and if you've never really been away from West Virginia, you should do more traveling. This world and this country have many wonders to see. There just might be more than its fair share in West Virginia.

As for me, I may travel far from its borders. I may live longer in other states. I may have married a Jersey boy. My kids may grow up in suburbia. But country roads will always take me home.