Virginia Journeys Log:
All about me:

I'm Charlie Grymes and I teach Geography of Virginia at George Mason University.

I'm not full-time faculty at George Mason. I have a day job pushing paper - now, mostly electrons - as a Federal bureaucrat working in a downtown DC office. It's a lot more fun to teach. At various times I've built railroad track, shipped the leaves from the tobacco warehouse after auctions and packed the tobacco into hogsheads, been a park ranger, and managed scenic easements on a Wild and Scenic River.

So what qualifies me to teach the class? Mostly my interest and 50 years of learning about Virginia. I have some academic credentials as well as a lifelong learner, but I don't have a doctorate... so I'm not "Doctor" Grymes.

(I earned a masters degree in independent studies in 2002 from GMU, after completing a half-history, half-geography project on the "Evolution of Prince William County." That was 25 years after earning my undergraduate degree from UVA. Back then I chose to focus on biology and government, mostly. I earned a bachelors degree in "independent studies" in 1975 rather than major in one program, so I never have followed the traditional path to a degree.)

I've been exploring Virginia for decades. I'm fascinated by the state. The idea that the sand grains on Virginia Beach could have come from Waynesboro... that still tickles me. When the thunderstorms of summer roll through, you'll find me applauding in the cheering section. When the cardinal flowers appear in the wetlands in August, I know that summer - and those thunderstorms - are almost done, and now it's time to see if we get a hurricane or at least a nor'easter.

And the patterns of people in Virginia intrigue me. Folks in Southside really are different from folks in Arlington. We all watch the same TV commercials, and regional accents are fading, but we're not homogenized yet. On Monday morning in Pittsylvania County, you'll find people talking about Ward Burton's weekend accomplishments - but in Loudoun, it will be "Think the Caps really can win the Stanley Cup?" at the AOL water coolers.

The study of Virginia geography helps clarify why we have such differences. It's more challenging than reading a detective story, and more fun to unravel. Price Mountain coal was squeezed hard enough by the collision with Africa, over 200 million years ago, that Blacksburg fuel would be preferred for powering the Civil War ironclad fighting the Monitor in Hampton Roads... wow, connecting the dots can create a great picture of Virginia.

So my main qualification is that I recognize Virginia as a special place, worth exploring in depth. I'm delighted to lead you through 14 weeks of the journey, and hope after the semester ends that you will continue to look outside the car window and think such thoughts as "Hmm, I wonder why it looks like that, at this place..."