Mountain living for me was growing up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of southwest Virginia. When I was still a boy, my family traveled all over the USA. We climbed the lofty Rockies and the Sierra Nevada range. We spent time in the Ozarks and visited the White Mountains in the Northeast. Vivid memories of scenic heights and wonderful people from coast to coast.....
Planted in the Old Dominion -
The ‘college town’ of Radford, Virginia, is where I was born and spent the first few years of my life. I remember most walking the downtown streets while shopping at Leggett's and Roses with my mother, standing in awe at the scale of the New River bridge, staying up late for movies at the Hi Way drive-in, and wondering what made the unique smell coming from the west end foundry. I enjoyed seeing the huge bear sign outside the old grocery store, eating great fast food from Kenney's Restaurant, watching the outdoor drama The Long Way Home, and staring at the 'hippies' at Radford College. Thomas Wolfe said you can't go home again. Home is never the same when you move to make one somewhere else. When I do get back to Radford, it is sad to see most of these things from home are no longer around. One bright spot for preserving mountain heritage is The Appalachian Regional & Rural Studies Center at Radford University.
Fair Dublin Town -
While still a small child, I moved to the nearby community of Dublin. My parents had purchased a house on Maple Street that in my eyes was as large as any castle and just as old and mysterious. Some of my most precious childhood memories are of enjoying that old farmhouse and yard with its huge maples. Christmas felt like I was living in a Currier & Ives print. I remember walking home from school (and seeing most of the town), the lovable Dudley brothers, and surviving the blizzard of '77, when I missed a month of school. I enjoyed nights at the New River Valley fair, more great food at Duke's drive-in, shopping at Wade's grocery store, and camping at nearby Claytor Lake. The Dudley's have all passed, and the cold winters elude us, but happily, the farmhouse, fair, and lake all remain for others to enjoy.
