There's a town--a place that exists in my dreams and yet is as real to those who live there as my current home is to me. I wonder if anyone in my dream town dreams of being where I am...
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| Downtown Marion Virginia (http://www.marionva.org/business. |
Undoubtedly, you might think of stories you've heard about someone feeling the urge, the absolute draw, to go somewhere to see or even live. Our BOTB host Stephen T, McCarthy mentioned it in a comment to me. After having moved to Reno Nevada a few years back, he made another move which he explained in his comment:
...for now, Carson City, Nevada ("Willoughberry"), is home. I love it here, and I am convinced that God Himself directed me here. It's the place I'd been looking for since 1992. It's 30 miles and 50 years away from Reno.I've heard similar stories from others and I've felt that draw within myself. For many years I had felt the draw to California. In the end I found that draw was more of a Beverly Hillbillies revelation from an economic standpoint mostly, but it was not a lasting compulsion. California is a nice place in many respects, but ultimately this place is feeling more like a hellhole than heaven on Earth.
Now I feel a lure pulling me to Marion Virginia--a small community in Southwestern Virginia nestled along Interstate 81 in the mountainous Appalachian region. It's a couple thousand miles from Los Angeles, but it seems like a universe away in many respects. Size and traffic are the most obvious differences. There's no shopping mall there which is fine since I can't afford to do much shopping and don't want much these days anyway. They've got a Walmart and that provides me about as much as I need. Besides, being on the 81 corridor puts me in convenient access to larger cities as well as putting me closer my family.
Why Marion? That's what I've been pondering for a couple years now. This town first caught my attention in 1977 when I looked down upon it while passing by on I-81 as I was heading to Richmond Virginia. Over the next couple decades I frequently made that trip. Every time I would pass by Marion I would go into a brief fantasy about living there. At other times when I was not on the road my mind might return to reflecting about the town.
Aside from pulling off for gas a few times at one of the Marion off-ramps, I never actually went into the town until December of 2017. It was very cold that day so I only spent a brief time walking downtown where I was staying at the venerable Francis Marion Hotel. Then, last summer, I spent another night in Marion and was able to explore the surrounding area countryside as well as walk again downtown--this time far more comfortably. The place had a feel that felt right to me. Certainly not what everyone might want, but it somehow seems like home to me.
Marion is a pretty little place and I still don't know what it would really be like to live there. I've read some negative things as well as positive, but I'd say that Los Angeles far outweighs any bad things that Marion has to offer and the "good" things in L.A. are probably not as good to me as they might be for some other folks.
But let me cite a few things that I've discovered over the past few months about Marion that I find interesting in respect to me:
- Marion was named after Francis Marion, a revolutionary war hero who was immortalized in the Disney series "The Swamp Fox"--one of my favorite TV shows when I was a kid in the 1950's. Francis Marion was also the inspiration for the Mel Gibson role in the 2000 film The Patriot (among my favorite films).
- Marion is the jumping off point for "The Back of the Dragon" which is a curvy mountain highway well-known to bikers. Near Maryville Tennessee (another of my favorite towns that I dream of settling down and where I had lived before moving to L.A.) is the jumping off point for another famed biker destination--"The Tail of the Dragon".
- In my absolute favorite film--yes, The Greatest Showman--one of the main characters is the Bearded Lady Lettie Lutz. The real life Bearded Lady who had gained famed in Barnum's attraction of the 19th century was Annie Jones, who had been born in Marion Virginia.
- One of my best friends from church came from the Southwestern Virginia region and is well aware of Marion since he has cousins living there and has often visited the town. This connection is part of what drew us together.
- Real estate seems to be very reasonable. If we sold our California house right now we would probably have enough to buy a very nice house on a decent plot of land and still have a whole lot of money left over.
- And though I could probably think of many more things about Marion that seem to somehow connect to me, my final entry on this list is the fact that I've been following an excellent young Christian band called Forsaken Hero and they are from Marion Virginia,
Call it what you will, but to me some of this seems a bit more than coincidence. Maybe I'm forcing pieces into a jigsaw puzzle. Maybe I'm just dreaming. I probably am, but I can dream can't I? Sometimes the dreams are what keeps us going. While at other times dreams inspire a Battle of the Bands like my last one...
Battle of the Bands Results
My most recent Battle was between Christian themed versions of the song "From Now On" which comes from the movie musical The Greatest Showman. The versions I offered were from Susan Shiebler & Company from New York and Forsaken Hero from Marion Virginia. I think both versions are outstanding, but I think I've demonstrated my bias in statements previously made.
So there's probably no secret to how I voted, but if you haven't figured it out my vote goes to Forsaken Hero from Marion Virginia. When I first watched their video I was moved to the point of tears. Later I showed the video to my wife--no fan of most rock music, but like me a big fan of Greatest Showman--and when I looked at her at the end of the video I could see by her face that she was also moved.
Thankfully I didn't have the lopsided outcome as my previous Battle though it was still a decisive outcome. I'm happy that my pick was the winner, but my commendations go to the other group of artists who are also winners from my perspective.
Final Vote Tally
Susan Shiebler & Company 6 votes
Forsaken Hero 12 votes
Next Battle on Monday July 1st
Summer is taking it's blogging toll on all of us from the appearances of things. Bloggers are dropping like flies as real flies are probably annoying some of you. I'm kind of lucky where I am since I rarely see any flies around my house. Maybe the lizards eat them. I'm okay with lizards in my yard, but I sure hope those rats from downtown L.A. stay there and don't migrate to our neighborhood. Hope the homeless folks stay there too. Our local removed a bunch from our community last year to the chagrin of the city of L.A. officials.
By the way, if you've seen TV reports about the homeless in Los Angeles, believe me it's not a hyped story. I avoid downtown these days other than passing through on the freeway, but you can still see the encampments as you pass by. It is disturbing. I've got a solution, but our spineless local and state government would never put that plan into action. It's a sad state of affairs.
It's also another reason that I would be lured to Marion Virginia.
I'm looking for feedback: Do you know anything about Marion Virginia? (Thank you Cathy for your input on this in my last post) Would you feel content in a small town? What would be your solution to fixing the homeless problem?
