My Trip To West Virginia

I started my trip listening to the book on tape "The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood". That took me there and back. Since my time is limited to read actual books I am trying to get into books on tape. At home I started listening to them while I knit.


Ah, West Virginia, what a place to visit. With its mountainous region, rolling hills, lakes, rivers and don't forget nature. I know that there is always more beautiful places that could be talked about or compared to, but for me West Virginia is on the top of my list. In the early morning you can enjoy the haze around the mountains and as that clears up you enjoy how the blue sky gives the mountains more of a perfect postcard affect. Pictures don't do it justice. Of course a professional photographer can get real close to capturing the colors and beauty.

I would like to share a little details of my trip to West Virginia. It was a combination trip of nature and yarn as I mentioned in my September 1 posting. There is a new yarn shop opening this month called County Road Yarn House in Lewisburg. If you ever visit Lewisburg, WV be sure to pay a visit.

I visited The Holler Farm Fiber Arts farm and they shear their sheep and dye their own wool. I got to see the roving that they died and all the pretty colors. It looked like big puffs of cotton. I just wanted to fall back into the pile and claim it as mine. Ok I woke up to reality. They sell items they make. They also explained the whole dyeing process to me. That was exciting because now I can appreciate all the hard work that goes into it.

There was a little yarn shop in town of Ronceverte where I stayed. They just opened in April of this year. Not much yarn but they are supposed to start offering classes this fall. I also visited a lady that use to own a yarn shop. I enjoyed our talk of the needlearts. She was packing her goods that she made for a craft show. I was sorry I would miss that one.

We took a tour at the Carnegie Hall of West Virginia in Lewisburg. I didn't know that there are four Carnegie Hall's around the world; New York City, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, PA, and Scotland the home of Mr. Carnegie. The West Virginia Carnegie Hall has three galleries featuring local artists which I thoroughly enjoyed. One featured beautiful wood cuts by Jeff Davis and the other two galleries had photography which is one of my other loves in my life so I enjoyed the work of Burke and Steven Shires. But the best thing on the tour was the fiber arts room. They have a fiber arts group that meets once a month. The tour guide was a member so I got first hand on what they are doing and had a chance to see some of their weaving and other projects.

We went to the new beautiful library also in Lewisburg and of course I had to see what knitting and crochet books they had. Then we went to a nice restaurant called Food & Friends. I really enjoyed the food and the atmosphere. And when you walk in they tempt you with their window array of fine chocolates to buy. That budget I'm on saved me from getting in trouble this time.

We went on this hike which was a little steep for me and I was glad that I had my hiking boots on. I had fun on that hike. It was about 10 of us so the great conversation helped me to get pass some of the more rugged parts. But I still love hiking; it's just that I haven't hiked in a while so my body did not cooperate as I wanted it to. It kept saying, this is what you get when you don't stretch those muscles and you just expect them to magically work. My hiking boots really came in handy on this trip with the kind of walking we did.


I was in awe at all the butterflies that I saw, several different types. And the hummingbirds that I saw as the sounds of their wings flickering around me or as they went to sip from their feeders gave me a closer look. But you had to be fast as they whisk away in an instant.

On my way back home I just had to stop and enjoy the beauty of those West Virginia mountains, take pictures to remember them by and one more inhale of the air. Click on the button for flickr on the left to view my pictures.

This trip reminded me yet again how important it is to stop and smell the coffee, as they say. That sentence has such a significant meaning especially today. Some have so much pressure in their lives including loosing their jobs, paying bills, feeding their families, keeping afloat mentally that just enjoying life gets pushed aside and the simple beauties of life become faded.

I had a boss once that when I had pointed out to him the beautiful moon outside he looked at me as if I had three heads. He made a comment and looked at me again as if to say I have no time for this and so this conversation is closed. What a shame when life engulfs our time and our minds to think that we have to wait for retirement to enjoy the simple things as a sunset or a beautiful butterfly on a flower. These things are free and out there for our enjoyment. We need to take advantage of that.

When I was working I had a lot of pressure at my job. But the things that kept me going was my music, especially my classical music because it was soothing, leaving the job for the day (of course) but seeing a deer outside grazing, driving home and seeing a full moon so bright and beautiful. For my sanity I had to stop and smell the coffee. I couldn't let my problems at the job engulf fully my love for the beauty around me like the flowers, animals, moon, etc... We shouldn't forget that those are the things, besides your needlearts or any other hobby you might be engaged in that brings joy, peace, excitement and awe. So even though life can be tough at times don't forget to stop and smell the coffee because the aroma is addictive and oh so sweet to your mental being.