Rural But Not Remote

Most people don’t have first-hand stories about bears sitting at their backyard picnic table or having to set aside an entire day to run errands, but those are the stories I have in my back pocket at all times. Traveling an hour and a half to get to the orthodontist, or being on “deer duty” anytime you sat in the front passenger seat were all things that came with living in a rural mountain town in the western part of Virginia. Here are some “normal” things for me and my family that might surprise you.

Groceries

While there are a few convenience stores and a Dollar General, when it came to feeding a family of eight, it took an army. We would have to set aside an entire day to go across the mountains to run errands, including the almighty grocery shopping. My dad would head out with one or two kids, a page-long list, and enough patience to make it through the day. We would always leave the store with at least two carts full of bags and a treat to keep up quiet for the long drive home. When we got home, everyone had to put on shoes to help trek the food into the house and put it away. In the summers, the local farmers would make food boxes to deliver to our back porch, full of fresh fruits and vegetables. Living in a community so small also meant that asking a neighbor for a cup of sugar wasn’t just a saying, but it was reality.

Travel

My family grew up in a 2004 Chevy Suburban that took us, and many others, everywhere. It made it through trips back and forth to grandparents, towing the family lawn business equipment, carpooling to music lessons, and so much more. At least four of the kids learned how to drive in the Suburban and it made public news in the community when it finally kicked the bucket last spring. It was truthfully part of the family. The nearest airport or train station is still another two-hour drive from my hometown. With kids that live all across the country now, this makes it fun for my parents to pick us all up around the holidays.

School

When it came to school, I spent all twelve years from preschool to senior year in the same building with relatively the same people. I was lucky enough to live right down the road, but some students traveled on the bus an hour or more to get to school. The farthest we had to travel to play another sports team in our district was four hours. To this day, my school has still never had a football team or a real soccer field. The middle and high school students shared teachers and, for the most part, the entire school was one long hallway. There were teachers who had taught classmates’ parents or even grandparents. There were even a few teachers who lasted long enough to have all six of my siblings and I as students, and they always got a hearty congratulations when they made it through the entire Adams family.

Wildlife

Another major part of growing up in a place like Highland was the wildlife. I have always had a pet, and we grew up watching our friends learn how to show animals in the fair and taking in any injured chipmunk or bird we could find. My neighbors have always had horses that we still give apples and carrots to over the fence. There’s a list of the number of bears we’ve seen in the yard and we keep track of the fawns that we see each year. I have stories about raccoons, herons, coyotes, a piebald deer, and so much more. With the vast amount of wildlife in my town, this means that we’ve seen some weird pets in Highland including the Canada goose we raised last summer named Alfred.

I could spend days talking about my small town, but these are just a few things that really shaped who I am and provide the content for my many unique stories. I hope you enjoyed some of my “normals” and have a new outlook on rural communities.

Be well, Auburn.