This past weekend we trekked out to Harper's Ferry for the baptism of Tom's niece (is she really my niece too, even though she never talks to me?)
*Some background information for those who don't know the topography of West Virginia*
You can't just drive across it. The entire state is in the Appalachian *
just for the record it's pronounced app-a-LATCH-in, not app-a-LAY-chan* mountain region and although there are many two-lane passes through the mountains, it's usually faster to take the interstate. We live right in the smack-dab middle of the state and to get to the Eastern Panhandle we have to go north, then east through Maryland, then south again back into WV. So because my kids think that driving 40 mins. to the nearest mall and Toys'R'Us 'takes a long time,' the four hours it
should take to get to their aunt's house is an eternity. Thus, we have the celebratory cheering when the Potomac River is crossed and we're over state lines.
This past weekend when I announced the crossing Tweedledum asked why the river divides the states which led to a mini-lesson on the Civil War.
Citizens of the area that now makes up West Virginia didn't feel that they were fairly represented in Richmond AND they were in favor of abolishing slavery. Quick thinking on my part gave a child-sized definition of slavery as "making someone do work for you without paying them." Can anyone guess the next comment by Tweedledee?
"But you don't pay us for stuff we do!"
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