Therefore, commerce is limited, income is lower, and many young people must leave to find careers elsewhere. I tell them they could get the Governor's Mansion in Charleston for that tab. Annoyed, Charleston publicist Becky Kimmons wrote a Gazette commentary, saying mountain folk may have less income, but they have rewards unknown to Manhattanites. Many years ago, an editor at The Baltimore Sun called to offer me a job. I said I'd think it over - but I'd hate to leave my little lake just 20 minutes from work, with its beach for the kids, and a dock for my sailboat, and hiking trails through the hills, and squirrels and raccoons everywhere.
Life is gentler in the hills.
We feel a kinship with the terrain. A West Virginian is never more than minutes away from a shady ravine, or winding ridge, or mountain meadow. There's less stress, more safety, more serenity. This has a currency as valuable as money. As coal reserves disappear, tranquility may become West Virginia's best natural resource.