Montani Semper Liberi
I just realized that tomorrow I will have lived in Rainelle, WV for 20 years. Just over 2/3 of my life. It's kinda awing to me to realize, when looking around Rainelle, how much has changed since I moved here. Some buildings aren't even standing any longer, others now serve a completely different purpose than what they were created for, and still others have been built since I've moved here. I've watched business come and go, people come and go, and the landscape of the mountains surrounding town changed forever by clear cutting. Kids I knew in school now have kids of their own, and some of those kids are the same age now that I was when I moved here.
I grew up here. Changed, matured, and grew both emotionally and spiritually. Not so much socially. I've seen two dogs and twelve hamsters, come and go, and now have two new dogs who never saw me as a child. It's been about seven years since Rusty died and I still cry when I think about him. He made the move with us when he was just shy of a year old, and adjusted well to this environment.
I've seen friends come and go. I've seen boy- and girlfriends come and go. I've lost two grandmothers, and an uncle I loved. However, I've also gained so much while living here. Friends I will know and love the rest of my life, new family members (including eleven--I think--new cousins), and neighbors that are family where it matters. Despite my constant bitching about the poli-religious climate of the area, and the horrible winters, and the damnable mountain roads, I love it here. I may not have been born in West Virginia, may only be a second generation mountaineer, but I love this mountain state. The curves of the mountains, the color of the trees, the sheer variety of animal life.
West Virginia has a natural beauty that few outsiders get to see, or even truly appreciate. Even though I have plans to move for schooling in a few years, I think I might just come back to West Virginia when I'm done. The pay sucks, the mountains in winter are treacherous, and we're always gonna be about three steps behind everyone else when it comes to technology and modern conveniences, but it's home. There's other places I think I could be happy living, but at heart I'm a mountain girl and I honestly can't see giving up all this natural beauty around me for a landscape of concrete, steel and glass.
I grew up here. Changed, matured, and grew both emotionally and spiritually. Not so much socially. I've seen two dogs and twelve hamsters, come and go, and now have two new dogs who never saw me as a child. It's been about seven years since Rusty died and I still cry when I think about him. He made the move with us when he was just shy of a year old, and adjusted well to this environment.
I've seen friends come and go. I've seen boy- and girlfriends come and go. I've lost two grandmothers, and an uncle I loved. However, I've also gained so much while living here. Friends I will know and love the rest of my life, new family members (including eleven--I think--new cousins), and neighbors that are family where it matters. Despite my constant bitching about the poli-religious climate of the area, and the horrible winters, and the damnable mountain roads, I love it here. I may not have been born in West Virginia, may only be a second generation mountaineer, but I love this mountain state. The curves of the mountains, the color of the trees, the sheer variety of animal life.
West Virginia has a natural beauty that few outsiders get to see, or even truly appreciate. Even though I have plans to move for schooling in a few years, I think I might just come back to West Virginia when I'm done. The pay sucks, the mountains in winter are treacherous, and we're always gonna be about three steps behind everyone else when it comes to technology and modern conveniences, but it's home. There's other places I think I could be happy living, but at heart I'm a mountain girl and I honestly can't see giving up all this natural beauty around me for a landscape of concrete, steel and glass.