Wonders of My Youth.

I had forgotten just how beautiful the part of West Virginia that I grew up in was. It had been over 25 years since I walked its streets and visited its stores. Of course all the ones there in my youth are gone. Now they are more for the tourist visiting from all over the world. I never knew that I lived in a historic town. But a town that was created in the late 1800s, I guess can be considered historic. When I lived there in the 70/80s the population was just under 1000. During the census of 2000 there were only 452 people living there. Today I would not know the number, but would suspect that it has dwindled even more. That is not to say that it is a ghost town. On any given weekend there are numerous tourists walking Front Street visiting the shops.

Of all the shops, one caught my interest for several reasons. It is a coffee shop, appropriately named Hypno Coffee, 9 East Front Street, Thomas, WV 26292. The proprietors’ are a young couple, who stirred from Florida. How they came to Thomas, WV I did not get to in my brief conversation with them. I did however fall in love their establishment. The thought of running a small intimate business, like a coffee shop, fills me with excitement. I love specialty coffees and the fact that it is in my home town, just feels good. I don’t know why, maybe it is because I am growing old and sentimental. I just like the place and plan on making it a regular stop in my travels to Thomas.

Twenty five years is a long time to be away from one’s home town. Actually, I had been through Thomas a few times earlier this year and visited some friends still living there a few years ago. But to really take the time to walk its streets and visit the stores, I had not done since the early eighties. In 1984 I enlisted into the United States Air Force and my 23 year military career began. After 5 years in the USAF, I joined the West Virginia Army National Guard where I served another 18 years. I retired in 2007, went to Afghanistan as a NATO contractor for a while and then to District of Columbia area as a Department of the Army contractor. I work for a company called, Tiber Creek Consulting as a Military Analyst. I own a house near Charleston, WV and I work in DC. So, I travel a lot to and fro. It is a 6 hour trip no matter the route, so I prefer what I call the middle route which takes me within 20 miles of my home town. It is also just a little over 3 hours to Canaan Valley, so here lately on the weekends I have been staying at a friend’s house in Timberline. This is a good place to meet my family and since we are so close to Thomas, I have been doing a little reminiscing.

I’ll be back in Thomas here soon learning about bats at the Thomas Community Center, which by the way is where I started 2d grade back in 1971. Maybe I’ll see you there?.....