This is my first column for Two Lane Livin' and I am so pleased to have been invited to join the conversation. My column will be as varied as my interests, and as interesting, I hope, as this amazing place we call home.

I arrived in West Virginia in 1974. Three years previously, my first husband and I took a little dirt road out of Radford, Virginia and ended up in West Virginia. I knew, right away, I'd found home. Almost thirty-five years later, I am still living on the same land we bought and built on when we moved here. My first husband returned to Virginia in 1984, and I stayed here and married a West Virginian.

When we moved here, we wanted to be self-sufficient on our land. I laugh about that now as I look out my window at our 80 acres of ridge land that has few spots level enough even to grow a garden. But we tried. Until 1989, this house had no electricity and we learned to do a lot of things the old way, taught by neighbors, friends and books. For a few short years, we actually did earn our living here, and I can tell you it was hard, hard work. We grew tobacco, made molasses, put up hay, raised cattle, hogs, chickens, and turkeys. We sold tomatoes and had a small greenhouse that produced enough extra plants to pay for anything I planted myself. We heated with wood (and still do), had bees and milk cows. It was a rich life in many ways, money not being one of them. But I would not trade those experiences for any amount of money.

As our sons grew up and moved off to lives of their own, we cut back on farming. I went to college and started working away from the farm. Eventually we were down to a few chickens, three dogs and a garden. Gone were the greenhouse, the herb gardens, the livestock. I continued to can, and we usually had venison in the freezer, but we bought most of our food at the store. Life was easier, but at the same time more complicated. Storytelling and my full-time job kept me on the go most of the time, with little energy left over for gardens. We had more money, but less satisfaction.

The past few years, I've been finding my way back. I've started canning more, raising more garden, and this year we have turkeys, bees and hogs again. The cellar is filling as I add jars of jelly, jam, pickles, beans and other good things from our gardens. Life is more satisfying, and I am once again finding that peace that comes with knowing we can provide for ourselves.

As the economy continues its troubled path, there are many other people doing the same things we're doing - rediscovering old skills and the pleasure that comes with doing things for ourselves. Each month, I will share some of what I've learned, places I've been, and pieces of our West Virginia culture that have been gathering the dust of disuse. It will, I hope, be like sitting on the porch, sharing a good afternoon conversation with friends who share the pleasure of Two Lane Livin'.