This is not your father's Oldsmobile

Unforeseen circumstances recently forced me into the market for a new vehicle (or one that was "new" to me, at least). My beloved but aging Volvo had developed a couple of unusual noises and, after a complete wellness check, I was informed by my mechanic that the necessary repairs would cost a small fortune. Given the already steeply declined value of the eight year old Volvo, we decided that it was time to retire my little Swedish buggy.

And so off to the local car lots we went, in search of a replacement. The choices available to buyers in the current automobile market have certainly come a long way since Henry Ford announced, regarding the Model T, that customers could have any color they wanted, so long as it was black. In fact, the range of makes, models, colors and other options is now almost overwhelmingly broad. My own search was thankfully narrowed by the fact that I desired a four-wheel drive SUV but, even in that vehicle class, there were dozens from which to choose.

We took a quick look at a few possibilities, all of which were just as quickly rejected. Then came a stop at the Cadillac dealership, where we struck gold (or, more accurately, silver). On that lot sat a shiny silver 2008 SRX, which is Cadillac's smaller SUV ("smaller" being a relative term, as the comparison is being made to the behemoth Escalade). The all wheel drive SRX we found was in perfect shape, had extremely low miles, and the price was more than right. It was close to love at first sight and, after a test drive, I was definitely head over heels.

While I had always associated Cadillacs with the stodgy, silver-haired country club set, the design of today's Cadillac models is far sleeker and edgier than those of yore. (On the other hand, perhaps my new-found appreciation of the brand is really due to my own advancing age, a fact I should just accept and move on). In any event, this beautiful vehicle now sits in our own driveway, and I could not be happier with the purchase.


While I hated to give up the turbo-charged power that hid under the hood of the Volvo, the Caddy's 255-horse V6 is pretty darn peppy, and the acceleration is responsive and smooth. "Responsive" can also be used to describe the way the SRX handles, and "smooth" is an understatement when it comes to the ride.

Safety was another feature that endeared the Volvo to me, but the SRX seems to be no slouch in that category either, with its front, side and roof airbags, stability control, traction control and the aforementioned all wheel drive.

Because it is a Cadillac, the vehicle's interior is of course super luxe, with buttery soft leather seats and gleaming woodgrain trim. The seats are heated, as is the steering wheel. (Yes, just what every girl needs.)

In terms of bells and whistles, the vehicle is truly loaded. My favorites are the 8-speaker Bose stereo system, with XM radio and 6-disc CD changer, the remote engine start, and what Cadillac terms the "ultra view" roof, which is a gigantic power sunroof that stretches over both sets of seats and - when open - practically transforms the car into a convertible.

Along with other expected amenities like outside thermometer, compass, heated mirrors, 8-way power seats with memory, and power rear liftgate, there is also a voice-activated cell phone system integrated into the steering wheel, an OnStar navigational system, and a trip computer that provides more information than I can ever imagine needing.

What I can imagine, however, is what a joy this vehicle will be to drive, whether it be on trips around town or journeys further afield. Having to give up the Volvo at this point was unexpected and, because I loved that car so, a bit sad, but the spiffy new SRX is certainly one heck of a consolation prize.

Dining room dilemma

An interior decorator I am not. In redoing our home from bottom to top when it was purchased five years back, I struggled with design choices throughout the house. In the dining room, however, the necessary design elements seemed relatively simple to resolve. Once paint and flooring were picked, I figured that the room could easily be completed with dining furniture, a light fixture, window treatment and a little art.

For the most part, my theory held true. A minor challenge did present itself early on, after the surface of the drywall was damaged from trying like hell to remove what was possibly the ugliest wallpaper ever produced. That issue was quickly resolved, though, when I followed a friend's suggestion and textured the walls by slathering them with drywall mud. Once dry and painted a pale golden shade, the walls had an interesting stucco-like finish that not only covered the damage but also looked fantastic.


While working on the walls, I pondered flooring and ultimately decided, because the room would see infrequent use, that I would go with a creamy white berber carpet to replace the nastily stained plush I had torn out.

With the walls done and the carpeting ordered, the rest of the space quickly fell into shape. The room had some terrific architectural details, like wide cove molding at the ceiling, chair rails on the walls and louvered French doors, all of which I repainted in a bright white. On a lark, I painted the ceiling a dark rusty red, which turned out to be stunning. I found a black metal chandelier that would go wonderfully in the room and located a few pieces of art to adorn the walls.


While out shopping one day, I stumbled upon some floor to ceiling brocade panels in gorgeous, rich tones that I knew would beautifully frame the room's large picture window, as well as complement the colors already in the room. Finally, I found a set of six traditionally styled Parsons chairs, covered in a not-so-traditional banana leaf weave and stained a golden brown, which were exactly what I had envisioned for the space and, once I dragged them home, looked great in the room.

Thinking back on the process of redecorating the dining room, I am rather amazed at how easily the whole project managed to come together. All the changes made to the room turned out great and I am extremely proud of the result. There is just one tiny little problem...

Yes, that's right, it's five years later and we don't have a damn table in our dining room. I will forego the lengthy explanation as to exactly why this is so because, in the end, the simple fact remains that we do not have a table on which to dine. A fact which, considering the purpose of the room, presents a bit of a dilemma and is a situation that I have sworn must be remedied in the very near future. And so the hunt for a dining room table begins...

A fish story

Last summer, while leafing through the July issue of Cooking Light, my attention was caught by a gorgeous photo of a salad featuring smoked trout, watercress and fresh orange slices. The accompanying recipe promised to be delicious and, although I had never cooked a trout, much less smoked one, I decided this was something we definitely needed to try. The magazine article included instructions on how to smoke trout at home, using a gas grill, and the directions made the process sound remarkably easy.

And it was! In fact, the only difficult thing about the whole procedure was attempting to locate the dressed whole rainbow trout called for in the magazine. The fresh seafood options in our small Ohio town are fairly limited, and we can merely dream of the vast selection available in big city fish markets, such as that at Seattle's famous Pike Place Market (as seen in the photo above, from a visit there last fall). I never did find whole rainbow trout, but was able to purchase large filets of the same, which worked out just fine as a substitute.

Once I had ingredients in hand, the process was easy as could be. Per the instructions, I brined the fish overnight in a solution made of water, brown sugar, salt and other seasonings. The following day, an hour before cooking the trout, we soaked two cups of wood chips in water. (The recipe did not specify what type of wood to use, but we went with hickory chips, a little bag of which I found in the grilling section at our local Meijer store.) After draining the wood chips and preparing the grill as directed, we tossed the fish on the grate, closed the lid and waited to see what resulted.

It turned out that the smoking process took quite a bit longer than the 15 minutes stated in the instructions, but the wait was definitely worth it. We were rewarded with flaky pieces of succulent trout, the taste of which was slightly sweet but at the same time a bit salty and smoky, and altogether delicious.

We never did make the salad that inspired the whole endeavor, as the distraction of looking for whole trout and wood chips at the grocery store caused me to forget both the watercress and the oranges. We did, however, enjoy some of the smoked trout in a nice Caesar salad, and then polished off the rest the following day, eaten on top of toasted bagels slathered with cream cheese. Mmm, mmm good!

Fast forward a year, when it occurred to me last week that we really should smoke some more fish. That thought was quickly followed by the realization that, in our deep freeze, we possessed a shrink-wrapped hunk of gorgeous pink salmon filets, caught by our friend Tony on an Alaskan fishing trip last fall, and generously gifted to us upon his return. Figuring that what's good for the trout is also good for the salmon (or so I hoped), I pulled the salmon from the freezer and, once thawed, went about prepping it in the same manner we had prepared the trout.

First, it soaked in the brine overnight...


and then onto the grill it went, the following day.


Once it smoked for about 90 minutes, the salmon turned out perfectly done.


After peeling the skin off the back of the salmon and flaking it into small pieces, we opted to once again enjoy our smoked fish in a classic way, on bagels with cream cheese. Oriental Ramen Salad turned out to be an excellent side to serve up with this easy, but oh-so-delicious meal. And that's no fish story!


Set forth below are the directions we used both times we smoked fish at home, taken right out of the magazine. Following that are some notes stemming from our own experience, including a couple little tweaks we made, as well as a few extra details on the cooking process.

Smoked Trout (Cooking Light)

Brine:

3 cups boiling water
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 sprigs fresh thyme
2 (4-inch) orange rind strips

Remaining Ingredients:

2 (10-ounce) dressed whole rainbow trout
2 cups wood chips
Cooking spray

To prepare brine, combined 3 cups (boiling) water, sugar, salt, pepper, thyme, and rind in a large bowl; stir until sugar and salt dissolve. Combine water mixture and fish in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Soak wood chips in water 1 hour. Drain well.

Prepare grill for indirect grilling, heating one side to medium-high and leaving one side with no heat. Pierce bottom of a disposable aluminum foil pan several times with the tip of a knife. Place pan on heated side of grill; add wood chips to pan.

Remove fish from brine; discard bring. Rinse fish with cold water; pat dry with paper towels.

Coat grill rack with cooking spray; place on grill. Place fish, skin side down, on unheated side; cover and grill 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. Flake fish with fork. Discard skin. Yield: 3 cups flaked trout meat.

Notes:

(1) Because I forgot to get oranges the first time, and couldn't be bothered to buy one the second time, we used about a teaspoon of grated, dried orange peel in the marinade in lieu of the orange rind strips. (I'm referring to the dried orange peel that's available by the jar in the spice section of any grocery store, which we happened to already have on hand.)

(2) Other than the orange peel substitution, I made the marinade exactly as specified. However, after I mixed the ingredients and dissolved the salt and brown sugar in the boiling water, I let the hot brine cool to close to room temp before I poured it over the fish. While the instructions do not touch upon this, I was concerned that pouring near-boiling water over the fish would cause the delicate fish to cook a little bit, which definitely seemed like something that should be avoided.

(3) If you use the cooking spray, by all means do not spray it on the grill grate if the grate is in place on the heated or heating grill, unless you want to risk a visit by the local fire department. To avoid this whole issue, and so we did not have to worry about the fish sticking to the grill, we set the fish on a single piece of foil for the duration of the cooking process.

(4) Because "medium-high" heat, as called for in the directions, can vary widely depending on a number of factors, I did a little research online before we did smoked the salmon this last time and, based upon what I read, heated our grill only to medium-low (using just the back burner) to achieve a cooking temp of around 200 degrees, and then maintained that temperature for the duration of the cooking time.

(5) As to cooking time, we thought from the get-go that 15 minutes really did not sound adequate in which to fully smoke the filets we used each time, much less a whole fish. In doing the salmon recently, we ended up cooking it for about an hour and a half, checking it every 15 minutes or so after the first half hour, and taking it off the grill when it would flake easily when probed with a fork, but making sure we did not overcook it.

Enjoy!

Drive-by shooting

A recently developed passion of mine is drive-by shooting, and our home state of Ohio offers some great locations in which to pursue this activity. No, I clearly am not referring to shootings of the ghetto gangbanger variety. My own version is quite the opposite, and involves peaceful drives through the countryside, armed only with a camera.

Ohio has some terrific cities, including Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, all connected by stretches of interstate that make it quick and easy to get from one place to another. However, one need drive only a few miles outside any of those urban centers and then exit the highway to discover a completely different world. Ribbons of country roads twist and turn their way throughout the state, and a leisurely cruise along any of these byways provides a wonderful glimpse into another era, when a rural lifestyle was the norm and tiny country towns thrived.

A drive along those back roads reveals that the countryside of Ohio is dotted with covered bridges, antique brick churches and schoolhouses, century-old farm homes and rustic barns. To my eye, any such quaint relic of the past presents a charming country still life that deserves to be preserved on film (or a digital memory card, as the case may be).

Scott and I have spent a couple of Sunday afternoons this summer taking country drives, enjoying the scenery and the fun of searching out cool things to photograph. We are definitely fascinated by the character and charm of aging rural structures, but also delight in the beauty of the simplest things we regularly come across while driving Ohio's country routes.

Be it bright orange day lilies or creamy Queen Anne's Lace growing wild alongside the road in summertime, the gleaming white stone monuments of a historic settlement cemetery, or a rusting vintage tractor sitting in front of a dilapidated and vine covered shed, we thrill in the discovery of each new visual treasure. After admiring such things for years while driving by, we now stop to document them.

Scott takes the wheel on our drives and, whenever we spot something that strikes our fancy, he pulls over and then I shoot. We find it relaxing and fun, it costs next to nothing, and we have an increasingly good collection of some really unique photographs as a result. A few of our favorites follow.

A super salad!

With summer in full force, our free time recently has been filled with activities typical of the season, including traveling, doing yard work, holding a garage sale and spending as much time as possible enjoying the great outdoors. This fact, along with ten hour days at the office during the work week, has resulted in our kitchen seeing very little action as of late. In a pantry drawer rests a large index folder bulging with potentially great summer-style recipes that I have clipped, torn and copied from various sources, and which I should be busy trying out right about now. Yet, somehow, I never seem to find the time to do so when the weather is right.

Not too long ago, however, I did dust off that neglected file and tried out a new salad that sounded wonderful on paper. The recipe (if one can legitimately term instructions for making salad a "recipe"), was from Taste of Home magazine and called for a mix of romaine and radicchio to be tossed with toasted almonds, tiny crunchy noodles, and green onions, then dressed with an Asian-inspired vinaigrette. The salad turned out to be fantastic, with the minor modification of adding extra seasoning to the dressing.

In the making of this dish, packages of dry ramen noodle soup serve as the source of both the noodles that end up in the salad and the spices that season the vinaigrette. To start, the little dried noodles are crushed into even smaller pieces, and then lightly browned in butter, along with slices of almonds.


Once cooled, the golden noodles and nuts are mixed with the salad greens, and some sliced scallions are thrown in. Just prior to serving, the salad is drizzled with a delicious Oriental-flavored dressing that is easily made by buzzing together a few simple ingredients in a blender.

This fresh and light salad, which I whipped up to go with cold jumbo shrimp, pasta salad, assorted cheeses and a chilled lemon cake for a special luncheon, is exceptionally well suited for warm weather dining. On the other hand, for those people (like me) who typically bypass the kitchen in summertime, the salad's ingredients are readily available year round and its flavor and texture are just bold enough to serve as a delicious accompaniment to nearly any meal, no matter what the season.


Oriental Ramen Salad (adapted from Taste of Home)

2 tablespoons butter
2 packages (3 ounces each) dry Oriental-flavor ramen noodle soup
1/2 cup sliced almonds
2/3 cup (5 ounces) evaporated milk
2/3 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
2 packages (10 ounces each) romaine-radicchio blend of salad greens
4 green onions, sliced diagonally

Crumble the ramen noodles contained in one of the soup packages, reserving the seasoning packet. (You will not need the noodles in the second soup package, but you will need the seasonings. Because the soup packs cost about thirty cents each, tossing out the extra noodles is not much of a waste.)

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Reduce heat slightly, add well crumbled ramen noodles and the sliced almonds, stirring constantly, until the noodles are golden. (This process will take about ten minutes, and really should not be rushed. Do not feel tempted to turn up the heat...the goal is to lightly toast the mixture, not burn it, and it will scorch easily if cooked on too high of a temperature and/or not stirred continuously.) Allow this mixture to cool to room temperature.

To make the dressing, place evaporated milk, oil, the dry seasonings from both packages of soup, vinegar and sugar in a blender, cover and blend until smooth. (If time allows, I would suggest whipping the dressing together, and then sticking it in the fridge to allow it to chill slightly before adding it to the salad. If it sits for awhile, you may have to give it another whirl, or stir, before applying it to the greens.)

In a large salad bowl, combine well chilled salad greens, noodle and nut mixture, and green onions. Just before serving, drizzle the salad with the blended dressing mixture, toss to coat well. Serve immediately.

(Note: The quantities called for in the recipe will result in a really, really large salad. Because I was making it for a group of just four persons, I mixed together the salad with only one bag of the greens, and then half the nut mixture, only two green onions and about half the dressing. I stashed the remaining ingredients (already prepared) in the refrigerator, and then tossed together a second salad for dinner a couple days later.)

Let's talk trash

It has oft been said that one man's trash is another man's treasure. Here in northwestern Ohio, proof positive of that adage can be found in a well established rite of summer...garage sales. Come Thursday every week, the local newspaper is chock full of classified ads touting junk sales being held the upcoming weekend, and people flock to the events like crazy.


I use the term "junk sales" rather loosely as, in many instances, the sellers are simply trying to unload unwanted items that are in perfectly fine (or even new) condition. In some cases, though, the wares for sale are more than a bit past their prime. In either instance, however, I applaud the activity. Buyers can find tremendous bargains, while the sellers make a little cash on possessions they no longer desire or need. Garage sales are free to attend, fun to browse through, and, from an environmental perspective, the whole ritual promotes the reuse and recycling of goods.

Last winter, when I delved into my annual clearing and organizing of our closets, attic and garage, it became apparent that we owned a good stock of various items for which we had absolutely no use. A bit of bedding, some decorative accessories like lamps and pictures, certain small kitchen appliances, an older TV, extra luggage...the inventory of things we needed to dispose of was larger than I had anticipated. This situation, combined with the fact that my mother's basement storage area was overflowing with old, junky furniture, led me to the conclusion that a garage sale was definitely in order for the following summer.

We held our sale last weekend. As expected from prior experience, the time spent organizing it in advance was a general pain for all involved (perhaps most of all for Scott, who had to lug the furniture pieces from basement to garage at my mom's). However, the crowds arrived early on Friday morning, and picked the place fairly clean by mid-afternoon. A few stragglers snatched up a few more of our things by five o'clock that day. We hoped that we might get rid of the rest by having a two-day sale but, after we had sold nothing else by eleven a.m. on Saturday, we closed up shop. A quick trip to Goodwill disposed of the leftovers, which barely filled the back of the Volvo.

The good news is that our house and garage are now clutter free, and my mother's basement is much closer to that goal. Six hundred extra bucks is another nice benefit, and we made a charitible donation to boot. Thus, over the past weekend, we indeed went from trash to treasure.

Or so I thought, until Scott decided that prowling garage sales ourselves might be fun, in order to look for bargains. If he gets his way, I have a feeling our home may again be cluttered with more junk in no time.

Though, on second thought, perhaps checking out a few garage sales might actually lead us to discover some new treasures. I suppose that just depends on one's perspective.

Bringing up the rear...Part I

We live in one of those special houses that can be found in many a neighborhood, no matter where you happen to reside. I'm talking about the house on the block that is a total eyesore, but which people will still pass by and think "Gee, if someone would put a little time and effort into that place, it could really be charming..."

Allow me to introduce myself. I'm the idiot who bought that house. As if the shabby exterior, overgrown yard and crumbling driveway were not enough of a challenge, let me assure you that the interior was ten times worse. Five years later, my closest friends and family now have strict instructions to shoot me on the spot if I ever, ever consider buying a "fix-it-upper" again.

Following countless hours spent coaxing the inside of our home into to a fresh and tidy condition after buying it in 2005, I was finally able to turn my attention to the outside of the house a year later. (Not counting the new roof put on that first summer, immediately after a thunderstorm revealed that a good rain would cause a large waterfall to pour down the dining room wall.)

As with the interior, the exterior makeover took far too much time, effort and expense. Finally, though, new siding, doors, shutters, and awnings transformed the front of the house and a fresh concrete drive and walk, replanted lawn and new landscaping added the finishing touches. Once the home's appearance started drawing compliments from people walking by, I knew the curb appeal of my dreams had been achieved.



The thing about curb appeal, however, is that by definition it includes only that which can be seen from the street. Viewed from the front or either side, the outside of our little ranch rambler now looks rather dandy. Viewed from the back? Not so much.

Of course the rear of the home received new siding when that job was done four years ago and, at the same time, I even added shutters to the windows looking out on the back deck. But there I stopped. While a non-scientific survey (glancing up and down the block) reveals that more than one neighbor seems to suffer a certain apathy relating to their backyard's appearance compared to their front, the sorry shape of my own rear space is not due to lack of caring. To the contrary, I knew from day one that the backyard needed serious help. There were, however, some major obstacles in the way.

One was the five foot tall chain link fence that surrounds three-fourths of the backyard, and which was rimmed with scraggly hedges that would stretch about twelve feet tall in the course of a summer if left untended. A healthy and neatly trimmed privacy hedge is one thing. A hedge that gives a scary haunted house look to the place is entirely different. I wanted to be rid of that hedge and, ideally, the old rusty fence as well. In terms of looks, the existing fence adds nothing, unless one enjoys a prison yard atmosphere. However, some sort of fencing out back is absolutely mandatory, as it serves to enclose the playground of our two beloved mongrels.

After pricing new fencing, I was dismayed (though not surprised) to learn that even the cheapest option would cost a couple thousand dollars. To add to my woes, the remaining backyard space contains two gargantuan maple trees that, while we love their leafy shade, pose a serious danger to the house roof with their giant, aging limbs. The trees also make growing grass beneath them an arduous task, and the trees cause an awful mess year round with helicopters, buds and leaves dropping all over the yard and deck.

The problems don't stop there. The far edge of the yard bordering our deck features what was probably a nice row of tidy cedars twenty years ago. Now, however, that strip of privacy evergreens is woody and half-dead, grows on a crooked, sideways slant, and is filled with foreign tree saplings, poison ivy and other invaders.

Almost heaven...

Yes, as goes the song, that would be West Virginia. The long Fourth of July weekend earlier this month found us heading to Ohio's southeastern neighbor and, after four days at Stonewall Jackson Lake State Park and Resort near Weston, West Virginia, I can now also vouch for that state's near heavenly qualities.

From the moment we crossed over the Ohio River, we were completely taken in by the beauty of West Virginia. The lush rolling green hills, the charming small towns and the welcoming people of that state all served to make us wonder why visitors are not flocking there in droves. Particularly Ohioans like us, given the close proximity of West Virginia and the easy drive it takes to get there. On the other hand, now that we've discovered this wonderful place, I can't say I'd be sorry if the secret never gets out, since the state's peaceful serenity is a big part of its charm.

As noted, our time in West Virginia was spent at Stonewall Jackson Lake State Park. While there is a lovely main lodge at which hotel rooms can be had, we opted to splurge on a private lakeside cottage. Our little gem of a cabin was tucked amongst a small grove of trees just feet from the shore of the lake.

Inside, the two bedroom cabin with fully equipped kitchen wowed us from bottom (hard wood floors) to top (soaring cathedral ceilings). We loved the interior's exposed wood beams, fabulous stacked stone fireplace, and Arts-and-Crafts-meets-Adirondack-style decor.

Outside it got even better. The cottage had a back deck, complete with patio furniture and gas grill, from which there were amazing lake views in all directions. The perfect weather didn't hurt, and I could have happily spent all four days relaxing on that deck, soaking in the scenery.






However, the surrounding state park and resort offered far too many attractions and activities to spend the whole time lounging out back of the cottage. Stonewall Jackson Lake State Park was created just a few years back, when the U.S. Corps of Engineers built a large dam to control the nearby West Fork River. As part of that project, Stonewall Jackson Lake was created and, along with it, the state park. Construction on the resort began late in 2000, and the lodge opened its rooms to the public in early 2003.

The lake is spectacular, with over 80 miles of shoreline edging the sparkling water that twists and turns through acres and acres of the surrounding wooded hillsides.


The park features a 374-slip marina, miles of hiking and biking trails, and a gorgeous Arnold Palmer Signature golf course for those who (unlike us) enjoy that sport.



The resort itself is located right on the lake, and offers the aforementioned lodge, with indoor and outdoor pools, fitness center, full service spa, cozy library and three restaurants and lounges. Activity options obviously abound, and the resort has kayaks, canoes and bikes available free to guests, as well as pontoon and fishing boats for rent.

During our stay, we hiked and fished and boated. The hiking was great and it was fun to explore the lake by boat. As for the success of the fishing, a picture is worth a thousand words, as the saying goes...


We also enjoyed a little side trip into the town of Weston, about ten miles away. We took a stroll downtown, shopping for antiques along the way and admiring the century old (or older) architecture of the surrounding buildings and houses.



A drive outside of Weston led us to discover a small winery where, after we checked out the charming grounds, the friendly owners guided us through their wine-making facilities, and then poured countless samples of their various wines for us to taste. (Not a bad marketing technique, as it turned out.)

We also stopped at the nearby boyhood home of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, the famous civil war general. The Jackson family property was deeded to the state university nearly a century ago, and has since been used as the statewide summer headquarters and camp for the West Virginia 4-H program. The huge acreage there includes the original mill and pond, where we stopped to feed the waterfowl and fish, along with a great little country store, where we snapped up a jar of West Virginia red raspberry jam to bring home.

The final highlight of our stay, since it happened to be the Fourth of July, turned out to be the fireworks display put on back at the state park, over the lake. From the perfectly situated vantage point of our cottage's back deck, we watched as the brightly colored pyrotechnics exploded and dazzled right over our heads.




While taking in the fireworks, I thought about the freedom and democracy that the display was meant to symbolize and celebrate. Notwithstanding the troubles and turmoil of these modern times, it struck me that the founding fathers of this country really did form a more perfect union. A union that, in the smaller sense, thankfully continues to encourage and revel in the individuality of its people. From a larger perspective, we are blessed to live in a union of fifty wonderful states, each unique in its own way.

From our recent experience, I now know that West Virginia is one of the best of those states. John Denver definitely had it right.