life in the country

a completely different pace

It seems that everything moves slower out here. You may notice driving in that there's little speeding and no road rage, aggressive driving, or tailgating. Everyone knows everyone here, and they'd be talking about you if they saw you doing that. But folks do feel free to drive ten, fifteen, twenty miles per hour under the speed limit. When they do that, remember: you came here to unwind.

The roads are windy and often steep here. That's why they call WV the Mountain State!

If you say "hello" to a West Virginian, you'd better have ten or twenty minutes to chew the fat. There's no such thing as a short conversation here. That would be plain rude.

When you want to hire some help, take this into account. Many tradesmen and professionals don't have answering machines or voice mail. My State Farm agent didn't have a fax when I moved here in 2003, for instance. Email is right out for lots of folks out here.

Treat folks right here and they'll give you the shirt off their backs just for the asking. There's a generosity I've never experienced in Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Jose, Santa Barbara, Orlando, New Haven, DC or Northern Virginia, all of which I've lived or worked in. It's just different out here.

My advice: drink it up and try to be like the folks here. Try bringing your city values out here and they may just chuckle at you.

Oh, and telling lies (in the form of harmless tall tales) is a mountain tradition. So if someone seems way over the top, they just might be tellin' you a good ol' mountain lie. Like, my neighbor George swears that turkeys will stand out in the rain with their heads back and their mouths open until they drown. I don't know for sure, but "sounds like a mountain lie to me."

Appalachian lifestyles

West Virginia seems a lot like Montana to me. Folks here like their privacy, and they don't want other folks tellin' 'em what to do. A very nice side effect of this: they'll show a high respect for your privacy and a high tolerance for your ways and eccentricities. (I particularly like the latter.) A lot of American immigrants came here because they didn't fit in in their home countries. A lot of those who didn't fit in in America headed for the hills of Appalachia. So we have all sorts up here in the mountains. Personally, I love that.

There are traditions out here that can lead to conflicts. Specifically, a lot of people (of all ages) here hunt, and they sometimes feel that they have the right to hunt on the land their father, grandfather, etc., always hunted on. You may disagree, but you may have a hard time keeping them off your land. My approach has been to go out in my woods the first few hunting seasons and meet the folks who are out there; get to know them, and learn from them something about what they're doing and how they do it. Everyone (almost) responds to a friendly approach. Then I gave my neighbor George, whom I trust implicitly, permission to hunt on my land and he manages the other hunters for me; I don't have to do a thing.

The good news: a flyer published by the state government says that West Virginia state law specifies that, unless you have given written permission for someone to be on your land, you are not legally liable for any injuries they incur while trespassing (short of malicious devices the land owner may place).

Hunters are generally very responsible. Local people were raised hunting, and they know how to handle their weapons. For more on hunting, see this WV DNR Fact Sheet. Note that hunters are required to wear a minimum of 400 square inches of blaze orange to make them easy to distinguish from prey. You'd be well advised to do the same when going abroad in the woods in hunting season. I have orange vests for my dogs, too, for that season.

hearts of gold

While the culture here is like nothing I've ever experienced, it's all in good ways. My neighbors have looked after me on my isolated mountaintop like no one but my parents ever did. There's a strong sense of community here, so take advantage of that and become a part of it, even if you're only out here part time!