Meet Virginia

Earlier this week I saw a job posting for a marketing and communications professional within the state government system. Although the position was within the same salary range I currently make, the description included details of promise that it would lead to something more extraordinary in the future. This was as appealing to me as a juicy peach in the middle of August, but there was one problem; the job would be in Virginia, Minnesota.

Virginia. When I was in my late teens I took my first trip to Virginia and I was less than impressed. The teal-colored water that pooled around the vast, sienna iron ore mines was not esthetically pleasing to me. The town reeked of “smallness”, which was something during that point in my life I couldn’t stand.

I had been a city girl for most of my life. Riding my bike around Lake Phalen and taking walks down Johnson Parkway was a way of life for me when I was younger. I went through a huge culture-shock when my mother and stepfather moved from the east side of St. Paul in 1987 to Wyoming, Minnesota. At the time, it seemed as if they had used a time machine and sent us back to the days of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Like I said, those were my thoughts…at the time.

The most recent time I had a real appreciation for life outside of the cities was last summer when my husband and I took our boys to his parents’ cabins which lie on the lakeshore of Echo Lake. I had never felt so relaxed and peaceful. I didn’t miss the fast-paced, get-it-done-yesterday type of mentality that I was so familiar with. I listened to the pine trees’ needles being kissed by the wind. I dipped my hands into the coolness of the lake. I was mesmerized.

Virginia is only an hour from the cabins. There are many similarities between the two locations. I appreciate the beauty that lies far north of where I live now. I did apply for the job after I told my husband my thoughts. Who knows? We might meet Virginia and acquire a new friend for a very long time.