| By Bob Weaver
As the sun went down in the Village of Hur, I had some moments of gratitude for living in the hills of West Virginia.
Yes, I know we make a lot of the "worst lists."
With COVID-19 raging in most parts of the USA, perhaps the normal social distancing we do in Appalachia and the fact we don't travel much could be blessing.
The USA in recent times has been hit by monumental hurricanes, record flooding, devastating tornadoes, gigantic woods fires, and fluttering warnings of earthquakes to come.
Despite all the problems we face in this part of the world, for the most part, the mountains of West Virginia is a safe and secure haven from most of those natural disasters that strike most sections of the USA.
Most metro cities, if their food supply is cut off, would be in dire straights after 48 hours.
Yes, we do have some devastating floods, but most people have a chance to take to the nearest hill and the comfort of a neighbors house.
We have a natural state against tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and those terrible forest fires.
Most West Virginians don't mind mercury laden water from fossil fuel and polluted water and air from coal mining and industrial pollution. Those don't kill you right away.
Then, an added bonus, folks around here have some great survival skills and when the chips are down, we have really great neighbors.
Those in urban and other USA land areas are held hostage with their crowded existence and dependence to just survive, their options can become few.
The hills of Sunny Cal are a pretty darn good place to be, as we humble ourselves for the hundreds of thousands of families who are not so fortunate.
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