Why Am I Here?

I was reading annother Local blog which had an entry about people coming
from other areas, thinking this was a good place to settle & on the
considerations they should take under advisement, I remember Chrissy
writing to me when I was planing to move here & bring my boyfriend, who
became my Husband & is now my Ex, with me. & she said you really need to
warn him what it's like, most people don't love it here like we do. I
fell in love in 1987 with this place & never looked back. Everything
thrilled me, From the maximum safe speed signs on the curves to the
taking my own trash in the trunk of the car to the dumpsters. (made more
sense to me than saving my trash up for a week & then debating the do I
take it out at night & run the risk of local dogs getting into it? or
attempt to get up early enough in the morning to get it out before the
trash truck goes by & then I have 2 weeks of trash next time? question) I
have never minded losing electricity in a thunder storm or a snow/ice
storm, I loved it as a kid because it meant everyone in my family would
be together & not watching tvs- or reading, each in their own room.
(though the 2 weeks in February 1994 did give even me pause to
reconsider) I fell in love with the mountains the minute it was light
enough to see them on my first day here back in 1987. I could not get
over how much nicer, easy going & polite everyone was here as opposed to
in my home state of Massachusetts, it was what I'd been looking for my
whole life, I had thought, originally Maine or New Hampshire or Vermont,
But when I went there & visited places I found people to be more laid
back but also kindof unfriendly, introverted & distrustful in the
northern New England states. Here everyone was willing to stop & pass the
time of day & take the time to talk to you. Being naturally or maybe I
should say genetically shy it was an amazing feeling to have people ask
me friendly questions. I, being a history lover was thrilled to find a
pharmacy with a lunch counter, drive up resturants & tiny grocery stores
with 5 or 6 asiles which still gave out green stamps. Just like I had
heard my parents & grandparents reminisce about.
I don't have allergies, (unless you count liars & my ex) though I may be
beginning to develop them.
I, being overweight belive midnight cravings are best ignored or anticipated.
I grew up in a home with a septic system & while we did have a well it
wasn't our actual source of water, it was an old well which I was allowed
to draw water from with a bucket on a clothesline up until I was 12 or 13
& my brother started tying the dog in that general area. then, when I was
15 or 16 they covered the well with a breezeway porch.
I don't mind driving 28 miles to work & back each day, I've read a ton of
really great books on tape that way & I belive it gives me a chance to
de-stress & decompress after my work day so I'm less likely to take my
work-stress out on the people at home.The same drive on a day off to shop
is not a problem for me either. sometimes I just take it philosophically,
If I can't find it in town here then I don't really need it that much.

I found, when I moved down here in 1993for what I thought was my
permanent relocation that there were lots of things I hadn't even known
about in 1987 & '88 that were really wonderful, I was only on the Blue
Ridge Parkway 2 times the first time I came here, the 2nd time I
practically lived there. I had a 3 year old & lived in a 1 bedroom
apartment with her & the space up on the parkway was a much needed relif
valve for both of us. I Don't make friends easily, (though compared to my
mother & grandmother I'm downright gregarious) but both of the first 2
times I was here I forced myself to become more outgoing. I was able to
connect with people I'd met in 87 again in 93 & 94, & Chrissy moved back
down not too long after I came back in 93, in 94 my ex & I got married &
his family ended up moving in with us a few weeks after our marriage.
this has turned out to be a really good thing in the long run because I
still count them as some of my many friends here but at the time the
stress nearly fractured our marriage before it even got started, about 6
months after they moved down we moved back to Mass. We tried to make it
up there, we really did, met a few really great people (you know who you
are!) But even with both of us working full time we did not have enough
money to get out on our own (we were living with my grandmother) after
our first daughter was born my ex wanted to bring her to meet her
grandparents & the rest of his family so we came for a visit, after the
visit we both started yearning to come back here. After yet annother of
his many serial affairs we decided to make a clean break & come back to
Virginia. That was in 1997 & though I've been back 5 out of 9 years for
visits to Mass I don't have any desire to move back there permanently at
all. When I came here I knew for sure I was truly home.