West Virginia Miners

Please find a way to help the families of miners killed in the West Virginia mine explosion.
They are a God fearing, strong people.
One family actually lost three members.
Keep them in your prayers.

We are former Mountaineers.
My father, grandfather, and a host of uncles are former miners.
My mother and aunt have shared stories of the fear that spread throughout the community when sirens blared and ambulances raced up the hollow towards the mines.

Close up of the beautiful West Virginia Mountain I climbed as a child.

All Things West Virginia

I love all things West Virginia:
mountains,
trees,
rivers,
creeks,
salamanders,
the way the sun rises high in the sky and balances
itself between mountain tops
...my home state.

The memories that stay with me throughout life
(even when I can't remember what I had for lunch yesterday)
are those formed in the safety of the hollows that lay between West Virginia mountains.

John Denver was right.
It is "almost heaven".

If, you've seen the beauty of fog lifting from hollows, rising skyward to reveal emerald mountains and loved it...

If, you've felt the hug of balmy mountain air on your face after a cool rain and loved it...
If, you've heard the sweet song of birds over the quiet of the land at sunrise and loved it...

If, you've stood at the base of a mountain and looked up to see blue sky through a canopy of green leaves and loved it...

If, you've tasted the exotic sweetness of a Paw Paw ripened by the sun and loved it...

If, you've stood barefoot in a shallow creek, cool water up to your ankles, soft mud squishing between your toes and loved it...

Then, you must have been in West Virginia...and loved it!