I'm from the country and I like it that way

I'm back in the burg settling down to work, though it's been difficult to get back in the swing of things. I feel like I'm fighting off the fog of depression with a big stick.

Last weekend I went with my sister to fetch my mom from my mamaw's house in western Kentucky. It was a lot of driving, but worth it to spend that time with my family. And it was nice to distance myself from all that's happened here in town; the further I drove the more distant all my troubles seemed. There is a tonic in spending time with one's family, with people like me, where I neither have to explain nor apologize for being me. Most of the weird things I do come from there. And if I do something weird that isn't from them, they're like "that's just Brandy." And it's the same for anybody there. It's a lesson in dialectics being there. On the one hand people can be real strict in their thinking, fundamentalist about religion and that sort of thing. But on the other hand, you'd be hard pressed to find more accepting, loving people even when they think what you're doing is in many ways sinful. I never have any doubt that they're on my side, and sometimes it just helps you get through a tough time to know there's people cheering you on.

I wish there was work to be had in the West Virginia coal fields for someone like me.