@Aohige_AP:
You don't want me posting Kyoto images, you two.
The mountains remind me quite a bit of Appalachia.
Though I've definitely been happier since moving to Ohio last year, I can't deny rural Kentucky's rustic charm. It's gorgeous any time of the year, an outdoorsman (and woman!)'s dream. Before I left, I lived in a town of about 2000 people (a very poor town if truth be told. About 45% of the population lived below the poverty line). But it was rich in beauty and tradition. Lush mountains, clearwater streams, hundreds of tree-lined trails. The county I lived in was something of a throwback; it was dry (meaning no alcohol could be served or sold) and hyper-religious….one of those places where a person could be defined by which church they belonged to (most churches were Baptist, and I guess Baptist must come in many flavors, because the ratio was 20 to 1). This combination, in addition to the low population, meant that there was very little in terms of recreational activity if you weren't the diehard outdoorsy type. If you liked museums, art galleries, bars, clubs, decent libraries, and non-fast food chain restaurants, you're completely out of luck. But if you liked hiking, horseback riding, four-wheeling, the occasional boil water advisory, and especially hunting….by god this is the place for you.
Even though I was largely unhappy there due to the widespread poverty and clannish behavior of the locals (which, even after 19 years of living there, I was somehow never quite able to be), I do sometimes miss that rural beauty very much. Ohio, of course, has its own beauty, but every now and then I am struck by how surreal the lack of mountains is to me. There's a saying around that area of KY that you can never truly "escape them hills" -- a saying that I've found to be almost tragically true. As glad as I am to now be far and away, a part of my heart will always be there.