With Great Beauty Comes Great Suffering

West Virginia is not unlike every naturally beautiful part of the world I have seen. It seems that while the state has been blessed with great beauty it’s population struggles to get by in a changing world. This is the Paradox of Beauty and Pain. We have always been isolated by geography, but now increasingly we are isolated digitally as well. As the rest of the world moves off paper and online, West Virginia is caught balancing tradition and modernity on a fulcrum of too little money.

Tradition and modernity have been themes fighting for dominance in many Appalachian families. Often it is the mother of the family that will sacrifice in the extreme to see her children live better lives. The mother’s of Buffalo, West Virginia once banded together to run for many of the local offices during the early 1950s. Standing in the face of adversity these women brought attention from across the state. Ultimately the political ambitions for the woman were unsuccessful. Buffalo would have to wait quite a while for their first elected female official. The important thing is they did win an increase in education funding and the mayor was ousted. These were two of the biggest goals the group had.

Still the world moves on and West Virginia does too in her own way. We cling to tradition because it is sometimes all we have other than hope to hold on to. This brings me to the topic of today’s post. I can not wrap my head around the beauty and the poverty that embody the paradox of beauty and pain here. Our haves and have nots live side by side. Usually the “undesirable” house is a relative down on their luck. Maybe addiction is playing a role, but throughout it all the mountains look down on us. Living our small lives in the valley, just doing the best we can.

Thank you for Riding With Me!

Recorded: 2/26/2025
Visibility: Sunny

Destinations in chronological order:

South Charleston, WV: B-19:57, 41:00-53:41, 1:18:10-1:36:15, 2:58:43-E
Thomas Hospital Rear Entrance, US60/MacCorkle Avenue, Chesapeake Street, Kanawha Turnpike, WV601/Jefferson Road, US119/Corridor G, Southridge, Marshall Way, Riverwalk Plaza

Charleston, WV: 19:57-41:00, 53:41-1:18:10, 1:36:15-1:47:58, 2:11:55-2:58:43
US119/Corridor G, Oakwood Road, Cantley Drive, Churchill Drive, Fort Hill Drive, I64, US119/Pennsylvania Avenue, US60/Washington Street West, Edgehill Road, Somerset Avenue, Summit Street, US60/Lee Street West, I77/I79, WV114/Greenbrier Street/Airport Road, CRW Charleston International Yeager Airport, Hillcrest Drive, WV State Capitol Complex, Washington Street East, Morris Street, CAMC General Hospital Campus

Elkview, WV: 1:47:58-2:11:55
US119/WV114/Indian Creek Road, WV114/Pinch Road/Airport Road/Greenbrier Street

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