I’ve lived most of my life with a longing gaze toward a distant horizon, believing in a mystical something-better out there.

The constant challenge for most folks who grow up around here has always been geography.  In West Virginia, the same hills that protect you from the outside world also tend to cripple your chances of seeing beyond the ridge in front of you.  Most West Virginians remain semi-affectionately imprisoned in their own little hollers from cradle to grave (save the occasional big trip to Myrtle Beach, laughingly referred to as the Redneck Riviera).  A few—our best and brightest—get out as soon as they can, and why wouldn’t they?  If your ticket out of West Virginia gets punched, why would you spend one more second in a state that is ranked among the poorest, most depressed, least educated, most drug-addicted, least healthy, and most miserable places in the entire nation? Continue reading →