BY KYLE LOVERN

I was talking to an old-timer a few years back, interviewing an elderly person for a story. She lived deep in at the top of a mountaintop above what we call a “holler.”

As you might imagine, the view of the mountains was just fantastic. As we sat there and gazed over the beautiful hills of West Virginia, the person told me, “The mountains are a good place to rest your eyes.”

I’ve always remembered that quote and thought of it many times.

We often take our beautiful mountains, rivers, creeks and countryside for granted. It’s easy to do this when we see our beautiful landscape every day.

We get all four seasons. The green overtakes the trees in the spring. The foliage continues to fill out under the summer’s bright blue skies and sunshine. Autumn brings the changing colors of those leaves – red, gold and orange mixed together like an oil painting. In the winter, we can wake up to a big white snowfall and viewing those same mountains covered with snow is something exceptional.

We have rivers filled with catfish, bass and other wildlife. We have thousands of birds of many different species. Occasionally, you may see a black bear wander out of its den looking for food. We have deer, rabbits, squirrels, raccoons and many other types of wildlife.

Living in Kentucky, West Virginia or another part of Appalachia is something that gets inside your soul. Sure, we have our problems. Unfortunately some ignorant people still litter our roadways and law enforcement has to fight illegal dumps. We’ve had poverty through the years and other economic issues.

But as far as I’m concerned the good outweighs the bad.

I know many of our younger generation have had to move away for their jobs and they have done well.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, there was a mass migration of citizens from our region who moved north to Detroit, Michigan, Columbus, Ohio, Chicago, Illinois and other northern towns that had factories that built cars and other items. There were plenty of jobs.

I had family members that moved to some of those locations. I still have cousins and other relatives in some of those areas.

But if you would have talked to their parents, which I did, they all said they would move back tomorrow if there were more jobs or a better economy.

The coal boom of the 1970s and 1980s did bring some of them back. But some planted roots in those colder, bleak northern towns and stayed there to raise their families.

Nowadays many of the younger generation head south to other warmer climate communities to find employment and to raise their families. I’ve seen my children and grandchildren moving south in the last few years because of better opportunities. I can certainly understand that.

Many older folks retire and head to Florida. But as the old sayin’ goes, “It’s a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.” We’ve been asked about it, but it’s not for us. We just wouldn’t feel comfortable living anywhere else.

My wife and I both agree that we have the mountains in our blood. We are West Virginians and that is where they will lay us to rest one day.

Our ancestors from places like Ireland, Hungary, Italy and other European countries didn’t struggle to stay. The early pioneers struggled to get here but fell in love with the land. They say the Scottish and Irish settlers were reminded of their homeland when venturing into parts of Appalachia.

We are proud of our famous natives when we read about them on a national level.

It’s a good place to live. Some of us need to be more involved in volunteer or civic organizations. Maybe some can even venture into local politics. It is great to see some taking entrepreneurial risks in southern West Virginia and eastern Kentucky.

As it has in the past, and despite the environmental protests, I think coal will again make a comeback. Our energy grid needs it, and our country cannot get all the power it needs from wind and solar. But that’s another entire column subject in itself.

Be proud of where you are from and work to make it a better place.

We have great people, awesome family traditions, a rich history, country roads, good food and much more.

As they say in West Virginia, “Almost Heaven.”

After all, it is our home.

(Kyle Lovern is a longtime journalist in the Tug Valley. He is now a retired freelance writer and columnist for the Mountain Citizen.)