Driving from Stony Fork to Breaks, I was plunged from rolling, open farmland into deep, narrow mountain valleys, and I realized I wasn’t just crossing the Appalachians, I was driving through Appalachia—a very different thing entirely. As I passed grimy coal mining towns with their Dollar Generals, Pentecostal churches, and billboards for addiction services, I wondered what living in such a place, where the horizon was barely wider than your shoulders, would do to your view of the world.

Breaks Interstate Park was created the year I was born (1954), and is administered by both VA and KY jointly. It has LOTS of hiking trails, a small lake, and spectacular views of the surrounding area.

Trails can change in a blink from this:

To this:

And the Geological Trail takes you through some truly amazing rock formations:

It was great to be able to Zoom in to church this morning for Easter Sunday, and to see and hear my choir buddies. I miss the comfort of that sacred space, but am finding the sacred in many things out here.