To the place, I belong…”
If you’re like me, there are probably a number of songs that were popular back when you were a child that have stuck in your mind through the years, always ready and waiting to spur a special memory or two every time you hear them on the radio. For me, the wonderful old hymn “Amazing Grace” leads the list, but a close second would have to be the John Denver classic “Country Roads”.
I grew up in the 1970′s in the small rural southwestern Virginia community of Widener Valley, and back then most of the roads in that area were narrow and crooked, barely wide enough in many places for two cars to pass by steering one set of wheels onto the shoulder. It seemed like it took forever to “get to town”, and this bored little boy would sit and stare out the car window as the trees, hills and mountains slowly passed into and out of view.
I was all of 11 years old when Mr. Denver released his smash hit “Country Roads”, and I loved to sing along to the catchy tune even as I was dreaming of the day when I could finally leave the country roads that I knew so well behind and make my way to a more exciting part of the world. For me, there was no magic whatsoever in the way those crooked ribbons of dusty gravel and cracked asphalt snaked their way around hills, up and down “hollers”, and across the rushing waters of crystal-clear streams.
No, it would be much later in life before I finally came to fully appreciate just how much God had blessed me by allowing me to grow up in such a beautiful and special place.
Sure enough, the day came when I was finally able to live my dream of leaving Widener Valley behind, and over the course of several years I found myself living in a number of places across the country and around the world. And you know what? I never found another place that was as beautiful, friendly and peaceful as the one I had left behind back in the “hills and hollers” of southwestern Virginia!
Well, a few years ago I managed to live another dream of mine – the dream of “going home”. Most of those old country roads are a little wider and straighter these days, but I love every single mile of them. And every time I hear John Denver’s voice croon the words to “Country Roads”, I thank God for allowing them to take me home.
Poignant!!
When I tell people that I grew up in Saltville, VA, I almost always get asked what was it like gowing up there? My reply is always it was like a cross between the “Andy Griffith Show” and “The Dukes of Hazzard”. It really is a shame that city folk tend not to appreciate the country side of life! God bless and thank you for TodaysPhoto.org.