Brunetsky is a retired award-winning public relations and marketing executive fresh from the politically charged atmosphere of our national capitol. She traded a good job, close friends and the excitement of the DC area for a log cabin in northwestern North Carolina. Three years later, she cannot understand how she ever lived anywhere else.

     Now that she has connected with her inner Heidi, she encourages other city dwellers to weigh their decisions about where to live. She's convinced that swapping the sound of sirens and honking horns for bird calls will add years to her life.

     When she's not writing , she plays her bluegrass banjo, hoping it will be her ticket to acceptance among her new mountain neighbors. It is not a substitute for membership in one of the Appalachian extended kinship systems, but it is all she can offer to convince her fellow holler residents that she really does want to integrate with the mountain culture.