Meanwhile Back at Mama’s.
It’s a new song by Tim McGraw. And on my 9 hour ride back to mama’s this week, I heard it no less than 10 times. Every time I heard it, my soul resonated more and more with it. Me and ole Tim must be on the same page on this one. As highly unlikely as it is that Tim McGraw and I think alike on much of anything, on one thing it seems we do agree…mama’s is a good place to be.
Meanwhile back at Mama’s The porch lights on, come on in if you wanna Supper’s on the stove, and beer’s in the fridge Red sun sinking out low on the ridge Game’s on the tube and daddy smoked cigarettes Whiskey keeps his whistle wet Funny the things you thought you’d never miss In a world gone crazy as this
If you eliminate the beer, whiskey, and cigarettes, you’ve pretty much got a picture of life at mama’s. The thing I most resonate with in this song and being back at mama’s is supper being on the stove. Now, that’s what I’m talking about woman!
The semester at seminary finally wound to a close and I considered myself D-U-N – done with the whole seminary school thing. My roommates moved back home, my apartment lease was up, my job ended and I was full of intentions to move to North Georgia and get a “real” job. As usual, my plans didn’t exactly turn out the way I expected and in that last week in Raleigh a couple of difficult decisions were made and instead of everything panning out the way I had kind of been thinking all semester, I found myself two days from leaving North Carolina and having zero clue as to where I was moving or what I would be doing. Then mama came to the rescue – literally and figuratively.
She really did come to North Carolina and helped me move out. She scrubbed and cleaned like the good mama she is and helped sort through more crap than I can even begin to describe. Props to both my parents that when I told them I had no clue what I was going to do in a couple of days, they both without hesitation opened their home and their hearts for me to return. Initially, I thought it would be for a couple of weeks until I found something a little more permanent, but as I thought more about it, I decided to just stay for the summer and regroup. I mean, really, who wouldn’t want to spend their summer in South Georgia…I hear it’s beautiful this time of year. If you love gnats swarming your face and the feeling of walking through a swamp in the midst of ridiculous heat and humidity, then it’s just a dream. Yep, South Georgia for the summer. Probably my best idea yet.
Daddy in all his goodness to me decided to wean the calves the day before I came home. That means nothing to most of you, but what it means to me is that about 100 feet from my bedroom window, 25 little baby calves were separated from their mamas and neither group was too happy about their circumstances. In their unhappiness with their situation, they weren’t too concerned with whether or not I slept. The honest truth is that I didn’t mind, not even a little bit, falling asleep or waking up to the sound of mama and baby calling to each other.
Give me incessant mooing. Give me gnats. Give me South Georgia heat and humidity. I’ll take it any day over apartment complexes, traffic, and shopping malls. I can’t breathe there. As Tim put it,
I miss a little dirt on the road I miss corn growing in a row I miss being somebody everybody knows there Everybody knows everybody I miss those small town roots Walking around in muddy boots The sound of rain on an old tin roof
Yes. All of the above. It’s good to be back at mama’s. The sad reality is that ultimately I am really back at Michael’s, not mama’s. In a circumstance of divine providence, my little brother just happens to live by himself in a 3 bedroom house on some land in the country and he begged me to come live with him [Read: he reluctantly agreed when I begged him to let me come live with him]. There is definitely never any supper on the stove, but there is beer in the fridge out here.
Meanwhile back at Michael’s, I have completely moved in while he was at work. Hope he likes the way I rearranged the house. I can’t help but think of that scene in Sweet Home Alabama when the guy comes home and Reese Witherspoon has redecorated the entire house and replaced the beer in the fridge with light beer. I can hear Michael now opening up the refrigerator, taking a look at the Greek yogurt and hummus, and asking, “What is this? Chick food?” Seeing as how there was no food in the fridge when I got here, I’d say anything is an improvement.
I’m baaaaack….who missed me?
After my time in town today, I’m thinking there could be more to blog about regarding culture shock here than there was during my time in Africa. It’s a whole different world down here folks. Between Africa, Raleigh, and now Moultrie, who knows if I’ll ever get situated properly in any one culture.
So, if you need me, I can be found in Moultrie fanning away the gnats and just fanning myself in general. It’s good to be back.