Did you ever say something that you realized was going to sound ridiculous just before it came out of your mouth, but you couldn’t stop and you said it anyway?

Yeah. Me too.

It happened to me recently, when someone asked me how I would describe the general population of Powhatan County.

“Well,” I said, — and I’m obviously not one of those people who is terribly clever when put on the spot — “we sure do like to eat.”

I’m not kidding; that is exactly what I said. Between my husband and I, we have over forty years worth of Powhatan residency. Admittedly, only six of them are mine, but really… we like to eat?

I’ve been thinking about this incident quite a bit recently, and not just because I enjoy reliving my more embarrassing moments. Should anyone ask me that question again, I’d like to have a better answer prepared.

After considering the question for a while, I’m still not totally sure just how I would describe us, though I do feel fairly certain that there is an “us” to describe. Having lived all over the country, I have never known a place that had such a unique sense of itself. To be from here is to be part of a community that takes a particular pride in its little corner of the world.

I always like to relate the story about first meeting my husband, when I asked him where he was from.

“Powhatan,” he said.

“Oh,” I replied. “Where is that?”

He looked at me a little funny, as if I had sprouted a third head. Was there someone in this world, or at least in Virginia, who did not know where Powhatan was?

Suffice it to say, I now know exactly where Powhatan is. But knowing exactly what our county is, or how to describe its people? That is another thing altogether.

The best I can do, I suppose, is to share a few things that sum up Powhatan for me.

I remember cutting my finger once in the kitchen while my husband was on the phone with a friend. It was little more than a knick, but within two hours the story seemed to have reached half the county. When my father-in-law came over later and asked me how my finger was—and I still have no idea how he even knew—I gained a new appreciation for just how connected people are here.

I also remember my first big storm here, when I woke up to trees down everywhere and many roads nearly impassable. Coming from the city, I figured we’d just wait for the powers that be to come by and fix the problem, however long that might take. As I quickly learned, things work a little differently out here. Before the morning was out, many people had simply hauled out their chainsaws and cleared their own paths. 

Perhaps one of my favorite memories is from a football game in 2005, when Powhatan came back to win in the final moments. The coaches on the field were all Powhatan grads and the stands were packed to the hilt with Powhatan’s faithful fans.

Down on the sidelines, the publisher of the local newspaper—also a Powhatan native—embraced the sports writer (me) as if the Indians had just won the Super Bowl. Journalistic detachment went out the window and for good reason. This was our team; this was “us.”

These are just a few of the things about Powhatan that I’ve come to appreciate over the years. I hope in the coming weeks you will share your own thoughts about what living in this county means to you.

And finally, just a quick word or two in my defense. You have to admit we do like to eat. I knew I had found my place in this world when I realized that my new friends here took the same kind of singular and obsessive joy in food that I did. I have given up trying to describe some of the meals I’ve sampled in this county to my city-dwelling friends.

It’s a Powhatan thing I guess. They wouldn’t understand.