Not all of Appalachia is coal miners with gaunt faces or
dirty babies with saggy diapers. It’s not all Dianne Sawyer’s
television special. Much of it is dogwoods in bloom,
morels on the mountains, laurels in spring.

It is willow trees and children on playgrounds,
churches in the groove and lights on a hill;
it is kudzu and honeysuckle, trumpet vines
and wild geese on green ponds, tobacco patches

and corn fields, saw mills and fishing ponds,
ancient burial grounds and sink holes,
caves and swamps. It is diverse and rich
with black dirt and crude oil. Appalachia,

ancient, haunting, home.

* I plan to post more pics over the next few days to share with my friends who live away from here.