All right, I will finally admit it. I am falling in love with this area. I didn't know if it would be possible after the hell we'd been through earlier this year, but I had also never experienced spring in the Appalachian mountains. Now you might be thinking, 'How amazing can it be?" and to be honest, I wondered the same thing when people kept telling me "wait 'til spring." Spring is spring, right? Trees and flowers bloom, birds come back, the weather warms up, people come outside, etc. Yes - there's that -- but magnify it. We are in the midst of old mountains that are covered in thousands and thousands of trees, and when their new leaves unfurl, they are the brightest, most surreal shade of yellow-green I have ever seen. There are more flowering trees than I've ever seen or smelled before - light purple, dark purple, red, fuchsia, white - and their fragrance is so strong that entire swarms of bumble bees feast on them. There are all different kinds of wildflowers along the ditches and creeks and hillsides - little red ones, white ones, purple ones - it has become a treasure hunt of sorts to see if I can spot one I haven't seen yet. And the birds - oh my gosh, the birds! Every morning I awake to the most amazing, peaceful, joyous chorus of birds - dozens of different types of birds, all greeting the glorious morning sun as it lights up the mountainside. It is absolutely breathtaking, and makes me so grateful to live here. I have also fallen in love with the people. It took awhile to adjust, but once I did, I realized how much happier and comfortable I am here. Life is hard here, but you never have to be anxious or afraid, because everyone is (or has been) struggling, and everyone is willing to help you. Everyone is so incredibly approachable and willing to have a conversation with you. There is no judgment, no anxiety, no pretentiousness. You are who you are, and everyone accepts that and loves you. It's the most wonderful feeling. The crazy thing about this area that I can't get over is the juxtaposition of natural beauty and man-made garbage. I won't try to sugarcoat it - it is dirty here. It is full of dozens abandoned and broken down houses, heaps of garbage, rusted vehicle frames long-forgotten and grown over by weeds, crumbling roads and piles of mud from frequent flooding. The wages are heartbreakingly low, the utilities devastatingly high, and the infrastructure lacking if not completely absent. BUT - if you can look past all that, and look at the actual people, at their hearts and their courage and their kindness, and really take a moment to enjoy the soul-piercing peace of the mountains, the trees, the flowers, the creeks, the birds, and the fresh air -- you can't help but fall in love with this place too. I am so glad I came here.