One of the themes I tend to explore in my writing is the influence of place/geography on who we are and what we do. I grew up in Virginia, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Just as Pearl S. Buck wrote of The Good Earth, there are times when I think I could write about The Red Earth because that was the color of the soil of my childhood. Red clay. Blue sky. Rolling green hills. It’s an idyllic description and it is real … as real as the less beatific images of the American South.
My Hometown of Lynchburg, Virginia
Having lived outside of the south for so long, one of the images that I admit as having taken on mythic qualities in my mind is that of the front porch. I have written a bit about my own experiences on the front porch in Virginia. The following essay was originally published in the Southern Arts Journal, and then revised for Terrain.org.
Words + Images 
I see the red dirt, but not the town! 😉 Nice bloggie – very inspirational [that’s so YOU]. Keep it all comin’! – L