Pendleton County, Where the county was made in 1788 out of pieces of three others. Where one town is incorporated and the rest simply are. Where the drive-in at Ruddle is the only movie in town. Where Covid was something the city slickers made up. Where the town is named for Benjamin Franklin and the county for a man from Virginia. Where Fort Seybert is a place, a date, and a thing people still bring up. Where 696 square miles are shared between about six thousand people. Where a funeral fills the church and then fills the road outside it. Oakwood Estates, where the rocks in the road are bigger than your truck. Where the ramps come up in April and the whole county smells of them. Where a road named after a creek will follow the creek. Where some of the phone numbers start 540, because Virginia is that close.