a proud yogi

Many of you know about my brother's coffee shop in Whitesburg, Summit City. I was ecstatic for he and his wife Amelia when they made the front page of the Herald Leader. This morning I learned that they've one upped themselves by landing in an article in The New York Times. The article is about hiking the Pine Mountain Trail. Here's a sliver of the article...

Whitesburg is a good place to meet people who have an unbreakable relationship with this landscape.

“The mountains are so close on, they’re almost hugging you,” said Joel Beverly, 34, who co-owns Summit City Lounge, a cafe, bourbon-tasting-bar and Americana music spot downtown. “When I go to areas that aren’t so crammed in, I almost feel lost.”

The next day, I took a “Goodbye, Whitesburg” hike with Mr. Beverly’s wife and co-owner of Summit City, Amelia Kirby, 30. She’s also a documentary and radio producer based at Appalshop, an arts and culture organization that operates out of a rambling barnlike building in Whitesburg. Appalshop celebrates the land and people of Appalachia without ignoring economic problems, environmental issues and social concerns.

We walked up a road toward a reclaimed former strip mine, accompanied by Ms. Kirby’s dog, Maysie. On a hilltop, a ladybug alighted on a coal lump. When viewed from above, through the fog, the stretch of Pine Mountain that I’d hiked looked like a green archipelago.

Ms. Kirby compared our vista to her view from the plane when descending into the Virgin Islands.

“Joel and I left as young people,” she said, “and didn’t want to stay away. You get back into the mountains, and you have an ‘ahhhh’ feeling — like you’re nestled into it.”

Click here to read the article

My maiden name is Beverly and many times growing up we were referred to as "The Beverly Hillbillies". For a little hillbilly fam, I imagine we're not doing too shabby these day. ;-)

Big Happy Days. I'll be traveling with Andy to Whitesburg tomorrow after teaching. There's some celebrating to do.