I'm lived in the Rockies and in the Appalachians. The Rockies are magnificent, but they are also terrifying. It is not a human friendly environment. The mountains of the East are not as awe inspiring, but it a place built on a human scale. It invites you to live there, it does not demand that you battle for survival. One day I'm going home to West Virginia and I will never leave again.
South Charleston. In the Kanawha valley. I moved away when I was about 12 years old. I went back to visit a few times over the years, most recently for my aunt's funeral. I never really realized how beautiful it was. If there were any jobs I'd go back in a heartbeat.
The Kanawha valley is lovely! I can understand the appeal. You're right, there's no jobs, so people have no money. The land has been worked over for coal, but the forests have grown back over most of it. Some of the rivers are still poisoned by acid mine drainage. I think about the possibility of running a doctor's office in which I trade my services for vehicle maintenance, a roof on my house, a roast pig, some apples or fresh trout....that sort of thing might fly in WV.
I have a dear friend in Sandstone WV, and several in the Morgantown, Bruceton Mills, Friendsville stretch. I've worked on the New and Gauley Rivers in the south, and the Upper Yough in Maryland by the north. I've lived out of a tent in many locations around the state.. I spent 6 months in Bruceton Mills, organizing an effort to clean up the Cheat river after a mine blowout killed the fish just downstream from Albright. I pretty much love the whole state, though the people are awfully hard-headed. =-]
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2010-02-04 03:40 pm (UTC)I have a dear friend in Sandstone WV, and several in the Morgantown, Bruceton Mills, Friendsville stretch. I've worked on the New and Gauley Rivers in the south, and the Upper Yough in Maryland by the north. I've lived out of a tent in many locations around the state.. I spent 6 months in Bruceton Mills, organizing an effort to clean up the Cheat river after a mine blowout killed the fish just downstream from Albright. I pretty much love the whole state, though the people are awfully hard-headed. =-]