This weekend I took a trip with my girl friend to some less than prosperous areas of West Virginia, and was once again struck by the different ways that people choose live out their lives.

On one side of the road is a double wide trailer house that is beaten to pieces, rusted and warped with garbage strewn throughout the yard and three or four cars in various states of repair in the driveway. A shed leans toward the ground nearby with a fiberglass boat on a rusted trailer propping open a door hanging on it’s last hinge. The most recent time anything on the property had a coat of paint applied was when it left the factory, and from the looks of it that was the last time anything was washed either.

On the other side of the road is much smaller single wide trailer house with only one truck parked in front. The house is clean, with flower beds and tomato plants around the trailer skirt and bright orange pumpkins lining the front porch steps. The lawn is green cared for and the driveway is clearly defined and clear of weeds and garbage. The truck in the driveway is loaded with ladders, tools, dents and scratches, but cables are all coiled and the man’s name and phone number on the side are proudly displayed.

The difference between the properties is like day and night. The hillsides are alive with the colors of fall, and the sunlight streaming through the turning leaves is dancing on the blacktop. A beautiful day for a thought provoking drive through spectacular scenery.