Though less than forty years have passed, I am often astonished to see just how drastic the world has changed from the time I was a small boy. Some of these changes have been for the better, but others – just to put it bluntly – I’m not so sure about.
Yes, technology, vehicles, and even our day to day lives are a far cry from how the world was only a generation ago, but when I survey the changing landscape of America, the greatest change I see is found in the people themselves.
Coming to age in the farming communities of rural Southwest Virginia, I was privileged to cut my teeth inside a John Deere tractor seated alongside my father as he spread silage to over a hundred hungry black angus cattle.
As much as these experiences helped to mold me into the person I am today, it was the people I grew up around who instilled in me a deep appreciation for all things Appalachia.
by Appalachian Magazine