On the road from Oz to Camelot

I lived inside the Beltway for the last 20 years.  I call it Oz out of respect and bewilderment.

The challenges of living in Oz are exhaustive. It starts every four years with a new Wizard.  Every time a new Wizard moves into the Emerald Palace the munchkins change over as well and busily go about correcting the Emerald City deficiencies that were at the heart of the winning campaign that got them to Oz.

 As a first step, the non-believers are banished from the palace and the kingdom and driven into the workplace.  Those who choose to stay are subjugated to the lowest of the low, whilst waiting for their tribe's return to power. 

It is a paradox of Oz that no matter what tribe the Wizard and the munchkins originate from, Oz has a way of turning their best intentions into "more of the same." 

Oz is a tough place to live in its own right, with the constant noise of the traffic, the hurried confusion involved in getting anywhere at any time, the people coming from everywhere and going nowhere, but doing it in an awful hurry. 

I needed to escape and catch my breath.  I needed to find my Camelot. (Camelot, of course, was the legendary capital of King Arthur's kingdom where honor, truth, goodness and beauty reigned.)

With my work requiring weekly travel, I found the perfect opportunity to move away from the chaos that is Oz and flee into the countryside.

All I needed was to be within striking distance (one hour) of an airport.  On my weekend quests I would journey down the various roads to the Eastern Shore, West Virginia, the Shenandoah Mountains, and central Virginia.  During the explorations of the latter, I would always come to Culpeper and launch to other locations in hopes of finding my Camelot. 

I realized along the way that I was spending more time in Culpeper and less on my excursions.  I fell in love with the charming little town and Culpeper became my Camelot last year. 

The people and the town have such a unique balance and chemistry that lightens up even the drabbest of my days. 
What was even more interesting is that Culpeper is a melting pot.  I have neighbors who have fled the chaos of the kingdoms of Richmond, Fredericksburg and Charlottesville, as well as Oz. 
We are all refugees who now call Culpeper home.

Of course Camelot is not without problems of its own.  Our governing round table nobly struggles against the forces of disruption and mayhem that challenge our community's sanity. 

Our problems come and go just like they do in Oz and will continue to do so, but with the wisdom of the round table, Camelot survives and even prospers.  

In Camelot, our people are our strength. 
Our people remember that respect for the individual and the community is what makes this such a very special place. 

Neither color of skin, ethnic background, religion nor income level seems to matter in Camelot. 

We are all in this together.  We are all, in a sense, refugees.
As I said earlier, I travel to every state in the union for my business.  I see the same problems in Los Angeles, Seattle, Tucson, Buffalo, Mobile and Boston. 

The same concerns resonate in the halls of leadership of Tulsa, Pittsburgh, Des Moines and Fort Worth as they do with our Town Council and Board of Supervisors. 

My goal as a columnist in this paper will be to bring some of the similarities and solutions I see in the kingdoms of the hinterland into your living rooms. 

Culpeper is part of this global community. Hopefully, together, we will see that this wonderful place is without comparison.
"Don't let it be forgot                                                   That once there was a spot
For one brief shining moment that was known
As Camelot."
                                                             Camelot [1960]

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