Down home post

In a recent mass e-mail from Dr. Dobson, of Focus on the Family fame, he included a story of a Christian physician who drives a bus of poor kiddos from a small town to a Vacation Bible School program in a neighboring small town. What makes this story blogworthy is that the doctor's town is my hometown, Seneca, in the northwest corner of South Carolina. And the other town that Dr Dobson mentions was our archrival, Walhalla (commonly nick-named Hog-wallow). This is all the excuse I need to give a little autobiographical info.

Here's the most picturesque photo of the area where I spent most of my childhood fishin' and swimmin', and boatin'.

The "rich kids" (usually families that moved into our area from more costly areas) got to live on the lake, but most of us locals couldn't afford it. Below is a satellite image of the house and property I spent most of my childhood at. The current owners have enlarged the house and tore down the barn, but you can still see the woods and pond that kept me outside for most of my growing-up years.

Perhaps this rural setting explains why I am still uncomfortable in large cities. I especially pity boys who grow up trapped in a .25 acre lot surrounded by other .25 acre lots with no room to explore, or hit a baseball, or even just throw a rock into the woods.

In a few months I'll be heading back to Seneca. My younger brother is getting married. Fittingly, the gal he is marrying is from Walhalla.