I'm in Waynesville, NC for Christmas. I grew up here. My moms lives here. If she didn't, I wouldn't come back. There wasn't much for me when I was here, and there isn't much for me when I return.

The town has changed, certainly. It's bigger, and there are more people. There are new police and fire stations. There are myriad arts and crafts stores (emphasis on crafts). There's a nice coffee roastery/cafe. There's a bookstore, Blue Ridge Books.

There used to be another bookstore, Osondu, where I gave a reading in 2009. I discovered today that Osondu closed because it'd been bought out by Blue Ridge Books. I was disappointed because a town needs more than one bookstore. It was comforting that Osondu had at least been taken over by another bookstore.