like the Rappahannock News is all about—spotlighting interesting events

like the Rappahannock News is all about—spotlighting interesting events in Rappahannock, and talking with some of the people who make things happen here. I said some of the people, because the newspaper rarely prints more than 16 pages per issue.

I appreciated Cooke’s friendliness toward me. No matter what discomfort the donkeyball players may have suffered (what with all the bronking and bucking), he and others made that assignment much more enjoyable than the proverbial pain in the (rear, since this is The County Family Newpaper).

Not all my fun these past three weeks was limited to working fot the Neics. I enjoyed hearing from people at home—whether it was letters from my friends, calls from my folks or anything from my girlfriend. I tried to find something I wanted at the county’s many antique shops, but ended up browsing. Maybe next time, if I revisit, I’ll find what I’m looking for.

And on weekends I drove both around Rappahannock and out of it, usually into the other Washington somewhere between Virginia and Maryland—what many of you here call “the big Washington.”

But most of all, I enjoyed seeing another part of the United States and learning about life here in the country—and learning to live without fast food restaurants and subway trains.

For years, Americans who chose not to live in large cities have been dismissed as “hicks” and “country bumpkins” by fellow citizens with very narrow minds I once thought so; I was wrong.

I hope you can continue living your rural lifestyle—the life some of you defected from other places to enjoy—as long as you want to. There are plenty of convenience shops, shopping centers and hamburger joints in the U.S.—but there’s only one Rappahannock.

I also hope I can return here someday. The past three weeks have been the best three weeks I’ve ever spent anyplace.