Over the weekend, I drove down the western spine of Virginia, through the Blue Ridge mountains, and then returned. Somehow I was totally surprised by the landscape. I think I usually see the Blue Ridge mountains from the eastern side. At dusk they can look absolutely turquoise-teal blue, bluer-than-blue blue. It’s suddenly obvious how they got their name. On this drive I was in the middle of the mountains, and being a camera idiot I have no pictures. An article in the Britannica is headed with a picture that accurately shows ridge after ridge of hills. https://www.britannica.com/place/Appalachian-Mountains

I drove through the mountains on a well-maintained, carefully engineered road, enjoying the outlook. I was also traveling along the spine of the mountains, going with the flow. It’s tough to imagine people traveling crossways through the area, going up and down, up and down, up and down, always one more ridge to cross, trying to reach the other side, wondering if there actually was one. The Cumberland Gap, the passage found by Daniel Boone was an impressive discovery. I always think it’s the Cumberland in Maryland but it isn’t. It is in southwest Virginia; I had turned east before reaching the area.

On the way back I realized something else. The Shenandoah Valley is … a valley, a well-watered fertile plain between ridges. It is a very fair and beautiful place. Coming back to it from the endless, majestic ridges of the Appalachian Mountains was an experience. I could see why people loved the valley passionately. I found a web cam that shows the valley to the east from an outlook in the mountains to the west.

https://www.nps.gov/media/webcam/view.htm?id=81B46B71-1DD8-B71B-0B55074571E08B1E

There are places in Virginia where the song Shenandoah is considered holy. Lest you think I’m being hyperbolic, I went to a Christmas concert of Lessons and Carols in an old, old Episcopalian church in Upperville, Virginia. The group had been told that only religious songs were allowed for this concert. They mentioned that they usually sang Shenandoah as their encore, but they would find a different song. The rector immediately said, “Oh, you can sing Shenandoah. That’s definitely religious around here!”

According to one version of history (which I am not going to check), the original Shenandoah river was in Iowa. Confederate soldiers heard Union soldiers singing this song and took it home with them because the song is so enchanting. I found a very pure and beautiful version of the song on Youtube here. Enjoy it.