WEST VIRGINIA REVISITED

We took another overnight trip to West Virginia, intending to make Charleston and look around southand west. Never made it; there's just too much to see in an overnight trip. The first photo was taken just after entering WV along Interstate 64 near Lewisburg.



The next two pictures were taken at Sandstone Falls in the New River Gorge National River near Beckley. We spent several hours driving up and down the New river marveling at the sights. Sandstone falls is just one of many along the river.





This picture was taken at a dam along the Kanawha River near the campus of West Virginia University Institute of Technology. The power plant is a small, old - and still functioning - hydroelectric plant.

I didn't take pictures of the campus, which is unique to all the colleges I've ever visited. It's essentially a strip mall, with one side fronting the tracks for the coal trains that regularly pass by, and the other side backed against the mountains. In the middle sits a small community college dedicated to technology education.



This waterfall was along the Gauley River at a switchback in the road we were traveling.



West Virginia is a beautiful state, one of the prettiest I've ever visited in terms of density of scenic beauty per mile traveled. Nevertheless, it is a very poor state, as is seen in these photos. These are not campgrounds; they are peoples' homes, a mix of trailers and ramshackle cabins. The first is an area called "Boohoo Bottom" by the residents, which at least shows some sense of humor ....



"Memory Lane" - several trailers, and just down the road, a rather nice house that looked more like a medieval castle than a home.



The combination of beauty and poverty reminded me of an article I read several weeks ago. Christina Davidson of Atlantic Monthly visited Pocahontas County for a “Recession Road Trip,” and wrote, “Taking Comfort in Small Joys.”

We don't have foreclosure here because most people own their homes and have always owned their homes. Most people have jobs, and if they lose one, it probably didn't pay much anyway. We don't have much bankruptcy because most people know their limits. We don't have the expenses of people in the cities. I always sewed and made all my kids' clothes--I have five. I always cut their hair myself. We never bought what we didn't need. That's just how we live.

Don Surber was not amused.

This romantic nonsense about becoming more like West Virginia is dangerous to America.

“Valuable recession lessons can be gleaned from the West Virginia experience: Never buy what you don’t need,” wrote Davidson.

Nice.

Romantic.

Nuts.

If poverty is so good, then why do we have anti-poverty programs? Using her logic, we should have pro-poverty programs.

Although I'm sympathetic toward the Atlantic Monthly article - we could certainly learn about life and living from West Virginia - Surber is more nearly correct.

Far from being a pleasant experience, poverty leads to depression, anxiety and misery.

Which leads to my final photo - medical care in an impoverished state.