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Heaven County And Growth

Author | ACTivist | Posted on | January 12, 2009 | 12 Comments

I just got back from taking care of business with my future home in what I wish to call “Heaven County”. While I was down there I started thinking about the contrasts of this place and where I reside in No. Virginia. I will call them the dis-similarities and it is the difference between night and day with realtion to quality of life and personal well-being.

I came to this area back when I was starting junior high. I lived in a po-dunk town called Vienna and the limits of the town were definitive. There were 2 signs placed at each end of the town along Rt. 123 and when you left you know you had left. There was nothing around. The town consisted of a different breed of redneck. In the times we were called “greasers” of which I wasn’t one. I was still country folk. The mindset of the town was to change its image and break out of this mold. They wanted to be someone. They wanted to be on the map. We already had King Distributors (beer distributor) as well as the 2 local (and rowdy) saloons-Daniels and the Vienna Inn. When I arrived in this town “Westside Story”, and the emulation of, was in vogue by its youth. I did get caught up in that. All in all, it was a semi-peaceful (although ignorant) existance for the towns people but they wanted more.

The “breakout” occurred when Tysons Corner was developed. We all know how that turned out. Vienna is now on the map and try to find the demark point between Oakton and Tysons Corner. It just doesn’t exist. Many wish it never happened and many others, like myself, got out. After all, enough is enough!

I moved out to Loudoun County to a small upstart community called Sterling Park. We had a couple small towns nestled in the country and, per 60 Minutes television show, were 150 years BEHIND the times. Do you know how wonderful it is to be living that far in the past while it is present? I had found a new home to my liking.

Things went pretty well for some years. We had actual FORDS (the water kind) that were part of our road system. Farms and forest were all the eye could see. Plenty of hunting without worrying about hitting a passing car or sending a stray through someone’s house. And we had a Jack-in-the-Box. We were big time and our stuff didn’t stink. The only thing you had to worry about was running into the Pagans M.C. at a field party or stumble into a marijuana patch or speed lab. Other than that, life was slow and easy going. Then one day the Board of Stupidvisors said: “You know, Fairfax County and Montgomery County have all the best schools and buses and businesses and everyone knows who those counties are. We need to cut us a piece of this pie. I bet we can even surpass them and be better then they are”. So the stupidvisors all stood up in a row, clicked their heels 3 times in unison and chanted “we want to be somebody; we want to be somebody; we want to be somebody” and, seemingly overnight, they became somebody. Hey, no one said it wasn’t a cursed chant! This was done much to the dismay of those people that just liked things the way they were. So we gave up quality of life to “be somebody”.

Alot of what has happened can be contributed to being near a “big city” which, in our case, would be Washington D.C. Have you ever paid attention to the type of people that reside or want to reside in these cities? For the most part they are well-to-do, porkchop people (those that wouldn’t have anyone paying attention to them unless they tied a porkchop around their neck) or those that want to be where the “glitz” is. My personal take is that nothing good ever comes from the city and it is a hotbed of liberals wanting to change something. They are at the mercy of the city government (who basically run every aspect of their lives) and want to spread that misery to all others in all locations. No thank you.

My quest for my Holy Grail was on and some years back I found my soon-to-be new home. It is in southern Virginia and it has a big city right next to the county. “The City” (as I will refer to it) is like Leesburg only magnified 50 times. The houses are mostly old and quaint but with newer developements scattered about so that townhomes and apartments share the landscape. “Heaven County (as I will refer to it) is right next door and, not unlike what Loudoun used to be, has a county seat about the size of Leesburg but without any glitz or intense modernization. Why? Because that is the way they like it and want to keep it. Heaven is nothing more than farms and forests where you can raise livestock of your choosing (and there are no smells coming from the chicken or pig farms), farm crop of your liking or just live and enjoy bliss. Most all jobs are local (paper mill is the only big industry) and people work just to have a job. No one is getting rich and the county doesn’t promote that issue either. It is a live-and-let-live attitude without the trappings of The City, Yankees or do-it-my-way liberals. Yes, they do have a golf course on the edge of the county but it doesn’t get much play. Bingo, church socials or tractor pulls are the main events here.  Heaven County is well known for a couple reasons but, alas, I cannot tell you at this time without giving away its location and also to protect my anonymity. It doesn’t matter for the purpose of this comparison series.

Heaven has started to grow. It has an area just outside The City and just within Heaven County borders that is not unlike the beginning stages of Sterling Park. There are new schools, communities and businesses popping up in this area and not without notice of the county board. It appears that the trappings brought on by builders are starting show the “darkside” of growth and the citizenry, as well as the supervisors of Heaven County, are not happy with what they see. Looking to what has happened to other areas (yes, they looked at what has happened in Loudoun), they have decided that they don’t like what the future holds in this respect and have started initiatives to curtail the growth in order to keep Heaven County the “qualty-of-life” area the people want it to remain.

The next in this series will deal with how Heaven County keeps growth under wraps. You will see how once you start down a slippery slope, it is hard to stop before hitting bottom.

Category: Community, Culture, Environment

Comments

12 Responses to “Heaven County And Growth”

  1. Lovisa
    January 12th, 2009 @ 5:57 pm

    “just live and enjoy bliss”

    No envy here. Mired in what used to be, it seems. Will you be able to use your computer while the livestock is mooing (livestock of your choosing)?

    “Live-and-let-live attitude”. – Any Latinos around?

  2. Wolverine
    January 12th, 2009 @ 11:11 pm

    Oh, man, ACTivist, can I relate! I started off as a grad student in the Rosslyn section of Arlington when I could walk across the bridges to get to class. Driving out to see the construction of Dulles airport was like being transported to the rural times of one’s youth. Small towns like Vienna, Fairfax City, and Herndon still had a soul, unlike now, when they seem to be drowning in an urban floodtide.

    After spending many years in the huge and often tragic urban centers of Africa and trudging through the capitals of Europe, I came home and resettled purposely in a small and unobtrusive house, in a calm and peaceful place where I could breathe clean air and stand on a hill and see nothing but trees all the way to the mountains.

    It seems like time has flown faster than anyone could imagine. If what I so treasured is not already gone, it is disappearing fast in that same floodtide. Where once you could hear the cows in the meadows, most of our children now only know what a cow looks like from television or from a visit to a preserved agricultural site. The trees disappear as fast as a developer’s dozers can cut them down; and, where once the wild critters had a safe place to roam, they now frantically seek out the few places the dozers have yet to reach.

    You have my congratulations for picking up and finding a new place as you describe. I have been sorely tempted to do the same, especially when driving down the Shenandoah Valley on a bright and crisp spring morning. Can’t do it, though. Too much family close at hand now, with too many things I do not wish to miss. So, I remain, doing what I can to keep what’s left of this place on an even keel and trying to reverse some of that ill tide, supporting those who do not want the tide to envelop them further west.

    Damn, I miss what once was. Not long ago, on the outskirts of a small town in the High Plains, while visiting my late father-in-law, I went outside for walk. For some strange reason, even though we were in a new housing development for seniors, I heard the lowing of cattle. When I came back, I mentioned this to him and kidded him about not having really moved to town as he said he was. He cocked his eye at me as if to say: “Son, you’ve been away from real life too long.” He would have absolutely hated to live where I do.

    As the radio preacher says: Not a sermon. Just a thought”

  3. jack
    January 13th, 2009 @ 8:38 am

    Can we come hunt with you? Please?

  4. dans
    January 13th, 2009 @ 12:42 pm

    jack, I hope he will at least have a house warming..

  5. Erin
    January 13th, 2009 @ 2:44 pm

    Sorry for the awkward comment input, but I wanted to let you know about our upcoming meetup…

    Dear DC-Area Blogger,

    I’d like to tell you about a new, grass-roots group called Bloggers for Good (BFG).

    As a blogger, you know how supportive and positive the blog community can be. The idea behind BFG is to harness to power of the blogosphere to benefit our local community.

    We call ourselves Bloggers for Good because we are blog powered! We organize events and use our blogs to spread the word. At the meetups we’ll socialize with each other and the bloggers we admire, network a little, and do some good along the way.

    The first BFG event will take place on February 19, 2009 at O’Faolain’s Irish Restaurant in Sterling, VA (near Regal Theaters). Proceeds will benefit the Loudoun Interfaith Relief food pantry. There is no cover charge; we’ll raise money as a percentage of restaurant sales, a raffle, and direct donations.

    February’s meetup will feature well-known local bloggers, including Erica Garman of the Washington Post’s Loudoun Extra blog Living in LoCo, author/blogger Tammi Marcoullier of the blog InsideOut, and Dan Sousa of LoudounPrepSports.com and his blog Ramblin’ Man.

    Here’s how to get involved:

    Publicize the event
    • Create buzz: inform your readers by writing posts to promote the O’Faolain’s event on February 19.
    • Post the BFG graphic/badge on your site (attached, or pull it from BloggersforGood.org.
    • Send me a mail at Erin@BloggersforGood.org to get on the BFG blogroll and planned attendee list.
    • Spread the word via email, Facebook, MySpace, actually speaking to someone, etc.

    Attend the event

    • Come to the event, and bring your friends, fans, coworkers, and family. The more, the merrier: we’ll have more fun and we’ll raise more for money for Loudoun Interfaith Relief.
    • Meet the bloggers you’ve enjoyed reading online.
    • If you like, bring a can of food.

    For more information, check out the BFG website at BloggersforGood.org. Feel free to email me with any questions.

    Thanks in advance for using your powers for good!

    Erin Himstedt Rice
    Erin@BloggersforGood.org
    BloggersforGood.org
    SuburbanFizz.com

  6. Lovisa
    January 13th, 2009 @ 5:21 pm

    Erin -

    What time?

  7. ACTivist
    January 13th, 2009 @ 5:23 pm

    NoVisa,

    Just keep reading the series and it will answer all those remarks. Computer? Although I worked and work in the “techno” age, I don’t let it own me or drive my life. I still use the mail (preferred), walk or drive to talk with people and listen to the news on the radio. OH, and I can still do math with paper and pencil or abacus!

  8. ACTivist
    January 13th, 2009 @ 5:34 pm

    Wolverine,

    You say “trudging through the capitals of Europe” as if it were the second war timeframe. You can’t be THAT old! I enjoyed Europe but found that the people that lived in the rural areas (country) were the ones that really gave you the understanding of their country-they had their finger on the pulse of the nation so to speak.

    I found from my parents and how my kids are that I can’t continue to live my life for them and they understand this. I will miss the grandbabies but our children understand that we need our lives too. It makes visitation so much more special. And now we have something to offer that they are not accustom to. Who knows. Maybe sometime in the future I will be slicing a piece of our acreage pie for their use. That is what the land is for.

    Cows mooing, train whistles off in the distance, the rustle of the breeze in the trees and birds singing is exactly what my wife and I have worked our lives for. We are country and need to be back where we belong. Sorry for stirring past memories (unless they will suffice and satisfy your needs) but know this; family and friends are always welcome at our spread and we are building accordingly. Keep that in mind. :smile:

  9. ACTivist
    January 13th, 2009 @ 5:38 pm

    Jack, Dan and the rest of our little group,

    It is a hike but rooms are available for visitation purposes (no squatting-you will have to leave sometime) and hunting is available although there is a 10% owner payment in game killed (I promise I won’t always take the tenderloin!).

  10. Lovisa
    January 13th, 2009 @ 6:29 pm

    Judging from Wolverine’s many comments I’m sure he is THAT old. I was there too, WWII, but I have not desire to go back to the so called good old days. I like NOW and HERE.

    The cows needed milking twice a day no matter what. The dung had to be shoveled out no matter what. There had to be feed for them through the winter. My mother had to wash the chimneys for the oil lamps every week and we got a bath every Saturday in a wooden tub; water heated on the wood stove. Outhouse in winter ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    You can get as nostalgic as you like about living out in the country, but I like my daily newspaper being delivered before 6 am and being able to get to the store in a few minutes. (What if I forgot to buy yeast for my afternoon of making bread?)

    Grandkids – my 5,7 and 9 year olds live in Southeast Asia. Of course I wish I could see them every year, but that’s not possible.

    Anyway, I sincerely hope that ACTivist will find happiness without limits in Heaven County, wherever that is.

  11. dans
    January 13th, 2009 @ 7:10 pm

    ACT, BYONV ?

  12. Wolverine
    January 13th, 2009 @ 8:26 pm

    Whoa, you guys! World War II?!!! Let’s not go back that far! How about this: My very first memory of world affairs was a front page newspaper photo of MacArthur descending from a plane in Washington after being removed from his command in Korea. Even that one is kind of fuzzy.

    ACTivist: That’s the European capitals in the 1970’s and 1980’s. It’s like you guys think I was hauling an M-1 through the streets of bombed out Berlin. Try substituting Saigon or Danang or Chu Lai or Cua Viet or Vung Tau, without the M-1. We are on the same page about comparative enjoyment, however. Loved Rome and London and Prague and Stockholm and Paris and and Berlin and all the other places. But, when you needed to lay it down temporarily and refresh the spirits, there was nothing like the English Lake District or a quiet, old hotel on the shores of Lake Como.

    Lovisa — You have outed yourself, my dear. We do have something in common through memories. How about those two-seaters in the dead of winter at Grandpa’s place? That is one bit of nostalgia I can certainly do without. Glad to see you’re a bread maker. I’m the son of one and married to another. Now, that’s a skill we should all hope never to lose.

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