Rants from the Hollow

As long as I was going to be in Ohio, I figured I’d leverage my time with a few visits to my company’s customers. The account managers in Charleston, WV and Indianapolis took me up on the offer of my time, so I had a chance to visit college roomie Steve Towne in Indy, and friend Dannie Walker in Charleston.

Elizabeth and I met in WV, spent the first couple years out of school there, and were married at Kanawah United Presby. I haven’t been back there for at least 15 years, so it was fun to get a chance to catch up an old friend (much older than I am) and check out some of my old haunts.

Our favorite restaurant, Tudor’s Biscuit World, is still going strong. Kanawah Presby finally seems to have resolved that dispute about ceiling fans in the sanctuary (along with installing a beautiful sounding and looking semi-tracker organ). A. James is long gone, but he’s got a nephew in politics. Danny Jones, who did a great job as L’il Abner back in the day, is not selling sandwiches or sheriffing, but is now mayoring, and the city seems to be doing well.

Capital Street has fewer stores than ever, but had a new ice cream shop and a sort of left-leaning new bookstore. The building where I used to work has had a makeover. Blossom Dairy still exists, as does the nut shop.

After a day of customer meetings, I drove over to Dannie Walkers, who has retired to a life of fast cars, gardening, and trolling the web for the high-meg movies. We went to dinner in a Mexican restaurant. Charleston has Indian food, and even sushi. How wierd is that? You can even get a latte in the lobby of the hotel. Its almost like being in…..well, Cleveland.

My first apartment was just a block east of the capital, and the apartment where Elizabeth and I lived when were married was just to the west, so I asked Dannie to drive down to the other side of town for a night shoot.

Lincoln is still walking at midnight, mountaineers are still always free, but the dome has been pimped up with some shiny gold leaf. The rumor always used to be that Gov. Moore had scraped off the gold and sold it. Whatever happened , it sure looked like gold paint back in the day. Its shiny bright, now.

Here’s the complete gallery of pictures from that trip.

I managed to squeeze a couple trips to the Hollow around a business trip to Chicago. On the last Saturday in April, I picked up Kirk at school and we spent an afternoon. The following Saturday, the first one in May, Dad and I visited.

I can’t remember the last time I’ve been down in the Spring–maybe I had a chance in college, but I don’t think I’ve been there since then.

On the trip with Kirk, the woods were white with trillium. They were already starting to fade the following week. Between the two trips, I saw spring beauties, rue anemone, bluets, violets, dandelions, and some large daffodils that Mom must have planted next to the electric pole.

Animals included a pileated woodpecker, a great blue heron, a deer, bluegill, and one very large, and still not hooked, largemouth bass.

Both were beautiful sunny Spring days with bright blue skies and yellow sun. Before picking up Kirk, I wandered around Doylestown Smithville taking pictures of barns and other country scenes, and then I went to a small Civil War reenactment in Wooster. I’ve started pulling together a gallery of rural scenes from Wayne, Holmes, and Coshocton counties.