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Picture of the day -
May 17, 2006
Me And My Dad In Amelia, Virginia
Dad and me on a stump in our front yard in Amelia County, Virginia.
When I was just a small child, my family packed up and moved from
Widener
Valley, Virginia to rural Amelia County which is located about 35 miles
southwest of Richmond. The large, old farmhouse that we moved into was a lot
different from the small, unfinished one we had left behind in "the valley". It
had shiny hardwood floors and long hallways for us youngsters to "skate" in. And
it even had something I had never seen before: a second level upstairs!
Yes, that large house was different from anything I had ever seen in my four
years on earth, but Amelia was different in many other ways as well. First of
all, the land was flat! There were no tall hills or snowcapped mountains, only
soy bean and corn fields that went on for what seemed like miles until they
reached the dry forests waiting on the other side. And the people there spoke
with a strange accent that was almost impossible for us "hillbillies" to
understand at times!
But there I was, a young boy excited to be moving into a new place that offered
plenty of new things to see and do. Although we lived in Amelia for just a few
years, the majority of my early memories are of my life there. For example, my
first taste of school came when
mom enrolled me in kindergarten at Amelia High
School. At that time, the high school actually held all the grades from K-12,
but that changed a couple of years later when the schools were integrated and
the high school became just a high school.
I also remember how my sister Helen and I loved to go swimming. At that time in
Amelia County, most swimming was done in rural ponds. Unlike the creeks and
rivers of southwestern Virginia, the water in Amelia's ponds was usually warm,
calm and deep - a far cry from the chilly water that we had played in "back
home".
We kids were always eager to go swimming, and
dad was always eager to go
fishing...so we had sort of an unofficial "deal" worked out: Helen and I would
go dig up a can of worms (literally) and dad would feel obligated to take us
fishing because "it would be a shame to just let 'em die". Some of my happiest
memories are of the times we went swimming.
Although I enjoyed living in Amelia County, mom had a pretty rough time there
for reasons that I won't go into. We packed up and moved back to Widener Valley
just in time for me to start the fourth grade at
Liberty Hall School in
Lodi,
Va. I finished my school years in southwestern Virginia, and after rambling here
and there I returned and settled here - and I plan to spend the rest of my days
here.
I have lived in places far and wide, but the hills of southwestern Virginia will
always be my home. Life in Amelia County provided most of my childhood memories,
but my roots lie in Widener Valley and Washington County. It's great to be home.
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