Almost Heaven

We're not in West Virginia, but we almost are . . . only a mile and a river divide us. We do much of our shopping there, our kids go to ballet and other rec programs there, and we certainly have a lot of friends there. WV gets a bad rap even still today for a number of things, but we enjoy and appreciate the wild state. I bring this up today because of a great article I just read on the New Republic's site. I don't know too much about mountaintop removal coal-mining, but from what I understand, it's a damaging, dangerous process that has also cut into the labor force of WV coalminers. Appalachia is changing all too quickly and negatively with practices like this one. The article is actually about Senator Byrd's recent op-ed on the issue. It seems that the 92 year old senator is having a change of heart these days . . .

These ivy-wrapped trees hang over Canal Road, our usual route to WV