Why are we surprised by change? The world around us is ever
changing. Leaves are falling. Children are growing up fast. I am growing
slower. The idea that things always stay the same or some things never change
is a myth.

Some things in Thurmond have not changed. The rail station
is still there. Trains still barrel through three or four times a day carrying
loads of coal. Many of the old buildings still stand. But the rail station is
now the park ranger station and a museum. The trains are now electric diesels
and not the steam engines that ran these tracks fifty years ago. Less than half a dozen families now live in
Thurmond. The train stops in Thurmond
but only to let another pass not to load or unload anyone or anything.
For the people of this valley life changed quickly. The
mines closed and the towns died. The day before as we floated down the New
River on a raft the guide pointed several times to vine covered foundations
that were the remnants of other towns now gone.
Most of life changes slowly and incrementally but be assured
it is changing, that is how we know we are living.