Take me there...back to the basics.

 

We have all answered the question “if you could have one superpower, what would it be?” I would always answer that question telling everyone that I wanted to teleport (like 50% group) because I love to travel and I would love to see the world. Today, though I have a different answer to that question:

I would like to travel back in time.

I would say about 75% of my job consists of driving around rural Appalachian towns looking for Principals and Superintendents to make deals with, connecting with Community Contacts in the area, finding homes for our volunteers to work on and getting lost in previously mentioned towns.

During my hours of being lost, glancing down the roads with no names looking for the “half orange, half brown” home mentioned on an application, I drive by countless old barns, and old homes that are abandoned. There are entire towns where the buildings that once had glass separating the outside from their homemade merchandise in their stores now have pieces of orientated strand board covering the void. There are all kinds of old signs around town including an old Pepsi sign that I am sure kids these days wouldn’t even recognize. (Coke signs, though have not changed - I'm sure you've learned about this in marketing class)

Take me back there. Take me to the time where I can meet the great grandfather who spent his days off work carefully and intentionally putting together each piece of rough cut lumber to make a home for his family. Take me back to a town where there were people and businesses flourished before the men up north discovered the precious natural resources in the mountains. Take me back to when the barns had a fresh coat of “barn red” paint and were full of supplies to live off the land. If only I could go there…

For my job I am often researching areas to find facilities to host our volunteers during the summer. I couldn’t count the number of abandoned buildings people in the community have told me about on one hand. They tell me it’s because of consolidation. Take me back to when these schools were full of happy kids and teachers making the means to support their families.

Take me back to a time when white coal dust didn’t fall lightly on the switchbacks and playgrounds of the local elementary school. To when coal slurry didn’t contaminate the town’s water source.

I want to go back and see all of this. Today my cruel, saddening reality check makes it so hard to imagine such a place. But I know it existed at some time. I have heard countless stories from the elderly home owners we have served over the years. I wish I could go back in time.

We have all heard of the forgotten Appalachia. It is too painfully true. About 45 minutes away from my destination my cell phone indicated that no one would be able to reach me. The town of Mullens, WV is so forgotten that there isn’t even a McDonalds here!

Sometimes I wonder, why are our volunteers so obsessed with Appalachia Service Project? …why am I so obsessed?! Well, I think I have figured it out. When you come to Appalachia, one of the few places where your cell phone doesn’t work and the only sign of progression in the town is the tiny Subway built into the local Little General, you are forced to go back to the basics. You are forced to talk to people face to face…because you can’t call their cell phone or text them. You are forced to go inside and interact with a friendly face at the gas station because there is no option to swipe your card at the pump. In a town where everyone knows everyone, you want to interact with people. You want to sit on their porch and hear about how their day went, and although it seems weird, they want to know how your day went too.

Has the world chosen to forget? Is the world too consumed by making money and doing anything they can to get it? I don’t know. I wish everyone could take a trip to the rural towns of Appalachia where they could go back to the basics. Back to what should really matter in life. We get so caught up in our job, money and material things and we forget about relationships with our fellow human. Think back to the best day you can remember in the past few weeks. Why was it so great? Was it because you hung out with your friends? Was it because it involved quality time with your family?

Just take some time to think about it, today definitely has challenged me to.

Maybe we all need to go back to the basics and remember what it feels like.

You can sign up for a trip with Appalahcia Service Project at www.asphome.org  and take a trip to rural Appalachia. haha just kidding, this wasn’t an advertisement. But, really, you can sign up if you want to.   ;)

 

 

Hotel Wyoming in Downtown Mullens, West Virginia

 

Outisde the town of Mullens, West Virginia

I just arrived at my home for the next couple nights in Brenton, West Virginia so I am going to rest a bit. More from me later.

MISS ya LOVE ya MEG