Coming Home: Finding Inspiration in Appalachian Roots

I’ve lived in places that stretched far beyond the blue ridges of home—across oceans, cultures, and landscapes that changed me. And yet, no matter how far I’ve wandered, the mountains have always called me back.

There’s something about Appalachia that lingers in the soul. It’s in the way mist hangs low over the hills in the morning, how the scent of earth shifts with the seasons, how the past feels close enough to touch. This land carries generations of stories, resilience, and a quiet kind of magic.

Growing up here, I didn’t always appreciate the depth of its beauty, its wisdom, its ways of knowing. But as I return, I see it differently. I see how resourcefulness and creativity are woven into everyday life. How our ancestors understood the value of making things by hand, of tending to the land, of passing knowledge through stories and song.

Now, settling into the Yadkin Valley, I feel that connection even more deeply. The foothills may roll a little softer here than the rugged peaks of my childhood, but this is still Appalachia—a land rich with tradition, where people know how to work with the land rather than against it. Here, small farms still dot the countryside, offering fresh eggs, raw milk, grass-fed meats, and produce grown with care.

Lately, I’ve been reclaiming that connection—not just to the land, but to a way of living that honors simplicity and seasonality. I’m cooking from scratch again, sourcing from local farms and markets, paying attention to the rhythms of food and the hands that grow it. There’s a certain poetry in kneading dough, in simmering broth, in knowing exactly where your food comes from and the people who made it possible.

It shows up in the way I cook, create, and listen more deeply to the rhythms of life.

Home, I’m realizing, isn’t just a place. It’s a way of being. It’s the language of the land that raised you, the stories in your bones, the things you carry with you no matter where you go.

And right now, I’m letting myself settle into that, root into it, and see what grows.