This is what you see when you are heading down the mountains between Tazewell and Marion VA, on Hwy. 16, looking toward Clinch Mountain. There are so many hills and mountains there that without decent topographic maps and an eye for detail, I couldn't tell you exactly what you're seeing in this photo.

But the landscape is lovely. As I told my lady friend (wife Jessica), if she could quit her job, I'd move there in a heartbeat. Just give away the house, take the books, the motorcycle, the baby and a few other essentials, and go build a cabin that would eventually become my coffin. Seriously, I'd live there forever, or die feeling that at least I'd lived in a place I loved with the things and people I loved. If we ever move there, I may or may not learn to play the banjo. Maybe I should master the bass or harmonica first.

Taken on my this Spring trip through my mountains, in psychological preparation for moving to central Texas -- where the landscape looks NOTHING like this.