Traveling back and forth between my home state of West Virginia and Virginia (where I now live), I have been in turn amused and bemused to note a difference in road signs warning of the same situation: Falling Rocks (West Virginia) and Fallen Rocks (Virginia).
What could have created the difference?
Do West Virginians perceive themselves as sufficiently adroit and quick-responding drivers to avoid the rocks as they fall? Probably, and not without cause. Have you driven those curves in those mountains? It requires some skill as well as courage.
Do Virginians think the greater danger presented is to be found on what’s already on the road versus what might be falling down from above? Perhaps.
Falling versus fallen – maybe it’s a theological difference (I know, I know – I stretch the point). Maybe Virginians emphasize our fallen nature while West Virginians emphasize our grace-filled redemption (represented by some, particularly mystic, writers, as falling into God). As a West Virginia home-girl, I’d like to think so.
Apropos of nothing at all important, I puzzle and come to no conclusions, except to note that one picture really is worth a thousand words.
But West Virginia has taken the extra step of naming a town (well, not really a town – just a zip code, really) “Falling Rock”. Now that’s committed.
What could have created the difference?
Do West Virginians perceive themselves as sufficiently adroit and quick-responding drivers to avoid the rocks as they fall? Probably, and not without cause. Have you driven those curves in those mountains? It requires some skill as well as courage.
Do Virginians think the greater danger presented is to be found on what’s already on the road versus what might be falling down from above? Perhaps.
Falling versus fallen – maybe it’s a theological difference (I know, I know – I stretch the point). Maybe Virginians emphasize our fallen nature while West Virginians emphasize our grace-filled redemption (represented by some, particularly mystic, writers, as falling into God). As a West Virginia home-girl, I’d like to think so.
Apropos of nothing at all important, I puzzle and come to no conclusions, except to note that one picture really is worth a thousand words.But West Virginia has taken the extra step of naming a town (well, not really a town – just a zip code, really) “Falling Rock”. Now that’s committed.
