Some Summing Up

As I already noted, last year's vacation was not so great. We were sick, had traffic issues, money issues (the hotel posted the amount twice, effectively blocking a bunch of the bank account for a couple of days), weather issues (hot and humid: the tidewater in August). This year was the polar opposite.

I've already commented on this but I'll say it again: I need mountains. Maybe it's in my Scotch-Irish genes, or just my personality makeup, but the blues and greens and soft contours of mountains make me relax, lower my blood pressure. The gentler speeds and cadences of the mountain south awaken old echoes in me, Ozark echoes, and maybe something that's in the DNA, going back to the mountains of North Georgia, of North Carolina, of Virginia, of Pennsylvania, of Ulster, of some ancient place. The highland south is a special place. Down in Staunton, VA, where we spend a bit of time each year, are two hills dominating the town called Betsy Bell and Mary Gray. As the link notes, there are two hills of the same name in County Tyrone, Ireland, and two others in Perthshire, Scotland, as Scots and Ulstermen have carried the names across the seas.

Anyway the mountains remind me of my upbringing, even though I was brought up on the edges of the Ozarks, and the Ozarks are never as big as the Smokies. But the cadences are the same, the people are the same (literally: the Ozarks were settled from the southern Appalachians), and with comfort food like barbecue and greens and pepper vinegar on the table and folks asking how you are even if they don't know you, it's home.

It is real easy for those of us Inside the Beltway to forget Who We Are and confuse it with What We Do. Getting back to country, getting back to the mountains, getting back to roots, is important.

We're mellowed now. I really don't care about a lot of things. I want to go back, but I also want to see mountains every month: the Blue Ridge, West Virginia, even the close-in Catoctins or Bull Runs. I need hills.

Roanoke is going to play a role. It's a city -- and Sarah likes cities -- in the mountains -- and Tam and I like mountains -- with museums and such. Of course it's a lot farther than Baltimore, but one can picture a three-day weekend with a stop in Charlottesville, two nights in Roanoke (day two spent entirely exploring), and day three coming back through the mountains. A quick dip into mountains, but with a bit of urban fun too.

Let's do it.

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