View from the Front Porch

Sitting on the front porch to drink my coffee is one of my favorite things on cool summer and warm fall mornings. The sun comes up and hits the pond next door and it gleams like a diamond. The deer and turkey apparently enjoy it as well. I often see them slip out of the woods to nip a little hay or take a drink.

Life truly moves to a slower beat here. There is no rush and bustle, things get done when they get done and usually not before. I wonder sometimes if it's because many people who move here to retire. And the rest are like me and trying to get away from the stress of the city. Certainly the native Southsider's will tell you that "it just ain't as rural as it used to be...I barely know anyone at the Food Lion these days."

Welcome to Southside Virginia

According Wikipedia, Southside Virginia is the area generally bounded by the James River to the North, the Blue Ridge Mountains to the west and the South Hampton Roads area to the east. Most of Southside is gently rolling Piedmont and very rural. It is beautiful country and I sometimes think that I have stepped back in time to a kinder, gentler era where politeness counts and you still know your neighbors. Life is slower here and after moving from the fringes of Northern Virginia, I can see why people feel that it should be a different state.

Amish Farmer plowing field, Photo Credit to Elizabeth at Macbeth, 2007