Simplicity and the South

“I yearn for the simple life in the South, before cell phones, computers,” Williams says. “I miss the sound of the dinner bell that rang before everyone gathered for a family meal." - Holly Williams, daughter of Hank Williams, Jr., from February/March 2013 issue of Garden and Gun

I often times think that I would have been much happier in life back in the "old days."

I like the way people used to treat and communicate with other people. Discussions take hours (no google to tell us the answer to everything).  People just pop by your home for coffee or dinner -- yes, uninvited visits for dinner make my heart sing.  You get walked home after a date and kissed on the cheek.

There are those who cannot go a minute without their phone.  Maybe they are constantly checking and updated ______ (insert Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc).  Perhaps it's non-stop texting.  It could be that they just listen to music while walking, biking, commuting, working, anything-ing.

Yeah...that is not me.

I remember watching an Olympic snowboarding event on TV in 2010, when I saw Shaun White put in ear buds right before he went down the half-pipe and, honestly, I just couldn't believe it.

The friend I was watching with is one of those people who walks everywhere with music playing and was shocked that I was shocked. "Yeah, of COURSE he listens to music."  Huh?!

That same year, my younger (high-school aged) cousins were showing me their new hoodie sweatshirts with earbuds in the drawstrings.  What?!

People are even tweeting from OUTER SPACE?!?

My idea of relaxation and time off is when I don't look at my cell phone once.  When checking email is out of the question. Where you're just glad to be wherever you are and whoever you are with.  It's uncomplicated.  Simple.

Now I know those aren't uniquely Southern qualities, but I tend to think of this simplistic lifestyle as being just that.

Virginia will always be "home" and it's a damn fine place to love.

These picture were taken while visiting a friend and his family in Southwest Virginia for the weekend.

Their family planted these trees when they were saplings.  They are just beautiful.  What you can't see behind them is an old brick building with an American flag painted on it.  Seriously -- I can't even make up this kind of awesome.

One view from the family's porch.



And while I do love the mountains, part of me will always need to be near the water.

Virginia may be home.  But Camp is where I summer.