"A Simple Unselfish Beauty"
Capon Bridge, West Virginia
April 30, 1983
Dear Folks,
How it saddens me that this will be my last day in West Virginia. So much beauty I have discovered in both its people and its scenery, that I wish I could just lay down my pack and stay here in these lush Appalachian Mountains for at least one lifetime.
Truly West Virginia--"Wild, Wonderful West Virginia"--is, in spite of all its poverty, one of this country's brightest gems. And the beauty I talk of is the simple, unselfish kind--the best kind.
Although it has taken me nearly eleven days to cross northern West Virgina's 215 miles of mountains and valleys, those were days that seemed to fly by, because of the neverending kindness shown me.
I must admit, however, I had my doubts when I first entered the state at Parkersburg. Like the dark waters of the Ohio River that flow by that city of forty thousand, the first few people I met on the streets and in the shops were rather expressionless and cold.
Furthermore, the city and outlying towns I passed through those first few rainy days were comprised mostly of gray and decaying buildings. A general sense of extreme poverty prevailed, and I looked upon all the shuttered homes and shops and the piles of junk stacked everywhere as signs of a people who no longer cared, who found little to be proud of anymore.
How wrong I was! Even though the state has the nation's highest unemployment rate--22 percent--and the people scattered about its moist and heavily-forested mountains live very simple lifestyles, they have managed to maintain a friendliness towards strangers that would put most so-called "do-gooders" to shame. Their autos may be rusty and their homes small, but their hearts are as big and shiny as the sun itself.
Because it is mostly a rural state and most of its young people have migrated to the larger cities of neighboring states to seek work, nearly every home I approached for water, food, or shelter was occupied by elderly people, nearly always in their 70s or 80s.
With memory of the last great Depression still fresh in their minds, the old people never failed to help me, even though sometimes they had so little to share. They remembered how in their younger days everyone had had to depend upon others for a lot of life's basics, and it gave them great pride and joy to know that they had helped me make it a little further down the road.
Indeed, incredible as this may sound, I had to pay for only two meals during my entire trek across the state. Almost as if I were some long lost son returned, many of those who invited me in fed and pampered me to the point of making me feel a little embarrassed.
And the young people? I finally started meeting many of them once I had crossed to the eastern side of the Appalachians. And what a joy it was to find that the younger West Virginians are as friendly and inwardly contented as the old people of the mountains.
Even as I write this letter, a dozen canoes drift by me down the beautiful Capon River. Each canoe holds one or two young people who are laughing, smiling and waving, their eyes as full of kindness as the flowered hills watching over me.
You know something, West Virginia? I miss you already.
Steven
Comments
Oh Steven you are indeed correct! I get to West Virginia now that I live here in the DC area. Many folks, who can't afford to live in the DC area, actually make their homes there and take the train in. As you can guess it's a long commute.
The first time I really understood what you are talking about was when I decided to drive to Kentucky from DC in my Jeep. I spent the whole day driving through the state and it was wonderful! Beautiful hills, wonderful people.
One of life's great experiences is a sunny spring day, a Jeep with the top down, XM Satellite radio and downing a bottle of freshly juiced pineapple juice while driving through the WV hills.
Posted by: Julian Cook | April 4, 2005 7:54 AM
Julian,
I know just what you mean, when you write about driving through the mountains on a sunny spring day with the Jeep top down. I've owned a Jeep Laredo CJ-7 since 1981, and I have lots of similarly fond memories. Nothing like a soft top Jeep on a winding country road on a beautiful warm day. We need to take a ride in our Jeeps down into beautiful Kentucky before you head out on your world bicycle trip. I just spent over a thousand bucks getting the ol' Jeep road ready again. The last two years its mostly been sitting idle in what used to be the old horse stables at the bottom of the hill.
Steven
Posted by: steven newman | April 6, 2005 9:14 AM