My hometown village wasn't much to brag about-no roads, no cars, no airport, no fast food restaurants or movie theatre. All we had was an outdoor toilet, a cozy home with family and friends and nothing but time to spend with each other. But it was my best-ever hometown village.

The houses sat on the top of the round bank in a neat row along the bay. The homes along the path ran along the top of the bank like clothes pins on a line linking us one to another. A log church sat in the middle of the village. Sitting at the table, you could see everyone and everything that went on in the vil...