Wisdom From the Woods: Life Lessons Learned from Living in the Wonderland of West Virginia

If this is your first visit to West Virginia, warn your significant other. You’re about to have an affair. A single sampling of what this state has to offer and you’ll be hooked. West Virginia is sumptuously seductive, especially in summer. There’s something naturally soothing about this time of year. West Virginia becomes God’s spa and our playground. You’re visiting “Almost Heaven” at a breathtakingly beautiful time. She’s ripe right now. Her modest green blush camouflages her deep desire to be looked at and explored. Every season is sexy here, but we natives pick up on West Virginia’s alluring scents in early springtime. By summer, we’re downright smitten with our voluptuous vixen. One whiff and she’ll take your breath away, as well. No matter where you’re staying, there are scenic sites to experience in all directions. Even skyward! The lack of illumination makes the nights brighter and more brilliant here. During daytime, take a road trip. Miles of amazing moments await you. A couple of carefree caresses around her famous curves and you’ll know what John Denver tried to express in song. Although captivating, “Country Roads” doesn’t do West Virginia justice. There’s an intimacy among us living, working and playing here that can’t be conveyed simply in a mushy melody. (And for the record, the Shenandoah River hardly passes through West Virginia as the song implies.) Frankly, we’re a bit biased toward The Greenbrier River around here. This place is honestly heaven to us. West Virginia sustains us in so many miraculous ways. She begs to have her fertile fields stripped bare and plowed each summer. Harvests of hay nourish hearty livestock all year and canned cornucopias of crops from graciously groomed gardens return summertime’s sizzle back to our winter dinner tables. The late GREAT West Virginia Senator Robert C. Byrd said it better than any song ever could. “When I am gone and opened, they will find West Virginia on my heart.” He was the wisest of all West Virginians! The state gets inside your soul and stays with you always. Ask anyone who’s left and begged God to bring them home. The Mountain State is a tantalizing temptress. With meandering meadows, shapely summits, sensual surging streams, and grinning gravel roads leading us playfully astray, what’s not to love? Whether you’re visiting for the golf tournament or concerts, the true classic is the peaceful patch of paradise surrounding you. Whatever you do, make your stay in West Virginia with your family, friends, or significant other an unforgettable affair!

– Jim Shock. Lewisburg, WV. (LBSPY 36 July 1-15)