Montani Semper Liberi (standard:non fiction, 1077 words)
Author: Jim Spence	Added: Oct 06 2005	Views/Reads: 3890/2353	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Mountaineers are always free.

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wonder.  Two lane roads, winding up and down the mountains, offer 
amazing views and historic places – small towns, poor in wealth but 
rich in history. 

West Virginia is the birthplace of Mother's Day, in Grafton.  We have
the oldest covered bridge still in use.  We have walnut festivals and 
strawberry festivals and apple festivals and pumpkin festivals and arts 
and crafts fairs and sternwheel regattas and ramp dinners.  We have 
Bridge Day, on the New River Gorge bridge, over 800 feet above the New 
river; the only standing structure in the United States that, one day a 
year, allows parachuting and bungee jumping.  We have college 
basketball, and minor league baseball and hockey and, just like all of 
America, Friday night high school football. 

We have white water rafting, and skiing, and hiking, and caves, and
waterfalls and camping in every direction.  We have Sundays where a 
leisurely drive in the car can take eight hours and only cover 100 
miles.  We have bed and breakfasts, and resorts, and golf courses, and 
museums and the Greenbrier. 

West Virginia has more natural beauty and wonder than any person could
ever imagine. 

We have all of this, and yet – our greatest asset is our people. 

West Virginians are good people.  We care about each other.  We talk to
our neighbors over the backyard fence.  We grow tomatoes for the entire 
neighborhood.  We turn around in each other's driveways, and yell howdy 
when we do.  We sit on the porch on warm summer evenings, listening to 
crickets, and watching kids catch fireflies.  We loan a hammer, or a 
cup of sugar.  We don't take two hour lunches, but we do spend a few 
minutes each day with a cup of coffee, and our feet up on our desk, 
shooting the breeze.  We rarely get in a hurry.  We have relatives just 
down the street.  We don't just loan someone a socket wrench, we help 
them fix their car.  We share recipes, and gardening tips, and our last 
beer.  We baby sit each other's kids, we house sit for each other's 
dogs while we're on vacation, and we loan each other our cars if we 
have to get to the drug store.  We ask each other if we need anything 
as we're going to the market.  We celebrate each other's 
accomplishments, and we cry over each other's disappointments. 

We are a friendly folk.  We are West Virginians. 

Mountaineers are always free.  Free to take the time to enjoy life, and
hold each moment in our hearts, forever.


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