Hi HJ,
My first 11 years were spent in the mountains of south-central Ky. I enjoyed everything that you are enjoying plus: snakes, katydids, frogs, bats, toads---it just dosen't end, huh?
But I also came away with an almost fanatical LOVE of the outdoors, and the fewer people around, so much the better!
Oh! Also a love for hotdogs cooked on a stick over an open fire until the skin is black! Then the same stick would be used to catch marshmallows on fire. When the treat is ready to drop to the ground, you simply blow out the fire, let it cool a few seconds and *yummy*!
Thanks, HJ.