A Ride Around My Town

As I had mentioned in a previous post, I have been working on making a video of the town that I live very close to. This hometown video was fun to make and I learned a lot in the process. It wasn’t as hard as I figured it was going to be, although there were a few bumps along the way.

As the saying goes, let’s see a little less talk and a lot more action. So, I present to you, a quick trip through my closest town.


Around Town from Bucky D on Vimeo.

The file is a bit large, so for best playback, pause the video soon after it starts, and allow it to load for a bit. Then, you should be able to let it play without interruption.

15 thoughts on “A Ride Around My Town”

  1. I don’t think you could have picked a better day as far as the weather was concerned to shoot this video. The weather pretty much summed up what life is like in Rainelle–dreary.

    I saw my parents house, which was kind of cool. People always ask my mom how she ended up with the best view in Rainelle, and she always replies, “view of what.” Actually, my grandfather got that lot for practically nothing because there was another house on it that had burned.

    I notice that market forces seem to be restablishing an equilibrium between the number of consumers and the number of gas stations in town. At one point I think there were five gas stations for a population of 1,000.

    I don’t know how you did it, but you managed to use my favorite Phish tune as your soundtrack. Trey was really at the top of his game on that one.

    It is also kind of interesting that you posted this video on the day after Phish announced they are reuniting. WHOOOAAAA!!!!!

  2. David – I’m in a place like that nearly every day. 🙂

    Garrick – I did a few color enhancements on the video to make it look a bit more dreary than it really was, although it was sprinkling rain when first started.

    Your mom does have a nice view of the town, if such a thing exists.

    I think they are down to three gas stations now. I don’t know if you noticed or not, but “Pit Row” closed down, and all the windows have plywood over them. And I think that the big green Hippopotamus on the rooftop of the building across the road from them had something to do with that. 🙂 In all honesty though, I think that place was quickly becoming somewhere that people went to buy and sell crack. There were some crazies that always seemed to be hanging around there.

    You are the one who got me listening to Phish. Although I don’t listen to them often anymore, there are days when certain songs of theirs just seem to fit. This, was one of those days.

  3. Although it saddens me very much to say it, I think Rainelle in general is becoming a hangout for crackheads.

    It is sad to see a place with so much history implode, but at this point I think it is irreversible.

    Mr. Thomas used to beg me to move back and run for mayor. He said the only chance the town had was if some young people with new ideas got involved. However, I told him I had never actually lived in Rainelle because my parents’ house is the first house outside of the incorporated town limits.

    In addition, I told him that I didn’t think my ideas would be to popular. No cars on blocks; no dogs in the front yard; no hanging out in front of gas stations; no deer heads on the mailbox; the lopping off of fingers for littering; etc……..

  4. Speaking of littering, I was behind a car at the redlight the other day, and the driver opened the door and proceeded to dump the entire contents of his ashtray right in the middle of the road.

    I used to be a smoker, and I’ve got nothing against smokers, I know what a bitch those things are to quit, but please, don’t empty your ashtrays in the road.

    I thought that you had told me your parents lived just outside of the city limits. Seems like they just got out of the “pesky extra taxes” zone.

    Speaking of crackheads, you remember that “Hollinghead” fella that we went to school with and used to walk the streets all the time. It’s been over ten years and HE’S STILL DOING THE SAME DAMN THING. I am surprised he didn’t show up in this video somewhere.

  5. Neat vid. I actually do like Phish (some of their stuff anyway). I was going to guess Bluefield, but Garrick already clued me in. I have a friend whose husband grew up there and his mom still lives there. They visit often. It seems like the closer a town is to Charleston, the more chances it has of thriving. Our town is very suburban, but has a very small town feel (we’re not close to the interstate and I think that’s why). We have deer in our backyard often – along with a wide variety of other woodland critters. It’s clean and quiet here. I love it.

    I had to run to the Walmart off Corridor G (119) yesterday and while I was waiting to turn, I looked at the median. There were cigarette butts just PILED up against the concrete. I wonder why the city doesn’t send out someone to clean that up. It was gross. And I also have nothing against smokers. The Evil Twin smoked for over 16 years and quit cold turkey almost 4 years ago. But he never threw cig butts out on the ground. He’d field strip them and put the butt in his pocket to throw away at home or in a trash can.

    Evil Twin’s Wifes last blog post..About My AprilMoms

  6. Very cool, Bucky. Reminds me soooooooooo much of the town my Grandparents lived near (actually lived in the country and had a farm).

    Sadly, so many of the small towns and the surrounding rural areas around here have become a mecca for meth labs and the such. The only thing holding some of these areas together is the older generation, and that is diminishing rapidly.

  7. Was I not supposed to mention the name of the town? I apologize if I screwed up.

    The problem you mention regarding cigarettes is so bad in Beckley that the city passed an oridinance that allows a fine to be levied against you if someone reports you for throwing cigarette litter out of your car.

    I really don’t understand smokers and the trash issue. One of the places I worked had to ban smoking on company premises because every morning the parking lot was covered and the clients complained about it.

    Yeah, I remember the guy you are talking about. He was one of the guys on the five year senior plan.

    Do people still cruise from one end of town to the other? I haven’t been in town for more than a couple of hours in two or three years. Well I guess that isn’t entirely true, I have been to the golf course a couple of times. For a town that is in such bad shape, they do a heck of a job of keeping the golf course up.

    ETW:

    Do you know someone from Rainelle?

    I have a friend who lives in your neck of the woods. His name is Neal Patel.

  8. Garrick – yes, a friend of mine – her husband grew up in Rainelle (last name: Cobb). I don’t know your age, but he is a couple years older than me, which would make him around 42. His mom and grandma still live in that area.

    I don’t know your friend from here, but the last name seems familiar – I think there is a doctor or dentist in town with that last name.

    Evil Twin’s Wifes last blog post..About My AprilMoms

  9. ETW:

    I am twenty nine, so I wouldn’t know him. In addition, Cobb is a pretty common name in that area.

    There are actually a large number of Patels in WV, and according to my friend they either own motels or they are cardiologists. Neal told me one time how it was that so many Patels immigrated from India to WV, but right now I can’t remember what it was he said.

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