I wrote this one day for the PieLab website and the Greensboro Watchman later printed it in the weekly paper:It's a covetous circumstance to love being where you are. How deeply appreciative I am to be able to enjoy my little town location of Greensboro, Alabama. Any of the main roads that lead you here all build the sense of deep awe because for lack of any words to do justice, they're just dang beautiful. Rolling green hills, vast pastures, cows dotting the fields, creeks winding, and if you catch it at the right time of day, you might even see sun beams streaking the sky. The American South: one of the best destinations people overlook.
I'd like to take you on my stroll yesterday with me: Right outside my door, the street is covered with wisteria-invasive plant as it may be-it's still gorgeous and smells of sweet southern spring. My little seven year old neighbor walks across the street to smell them with me and expresses her desire that the flowers should turn into grapes. Moving on I get to Main Street where it is quiet, as Sabbath is seemingly more evident without the distractions of a city. Highway 69 has its usual thru traffic traveling, especially with beach-goers this time of year. There is a sort of unspoken rule here, and just about in any southern town, that you wave to any and every passerby, meaning that on this walk, I get my arm workout as well. Birds are chirping and bees buzzing. I've always loved how luciously green the south is. I've heard westerners say that it almost gives them a sense of claustrophobia, but not me. Those tree canopied roads give me a sense of mystery that incites adventure! The magnolia tree I pass is about to explode in its intoxicatingly fragrant white flowers that will fill the air with an even sweeter heaviness. With the heavy air and flora filled aromas, sometimes I think the air might just drip sugar. That has always been one of the first things to hit me when stepping off of a plane in Atlanta: a wall of heavy, wet, sweet smelling air that announces my arrival back on southern soil. By summer this air will no longer be as romantic, as we will have to change clothes three times a day to stay dry and take a nap each afternoon just to regain what the heat took out of you that morning. That combined with a dozen of re-applications of bug spray throughout the day means your shower is well worth it at night. Continuing on my walk I notice that the recycling bins behind the Episcopal church are still in much use. This local effort is highly commended and is impressive to see a church with "ecology as part of theology." Some of the houses I pass still retain their glorious heritage from when they were built and some are going through renovations to restore them as well. It is exciting to see part of history being restored to continue serving their built purposes.
This walk has allowed time to think and meditate--one of the things I love about Greensboro. It gives me the time and space to create and develop with the bonus of being surrounded by great people who spur inspiration into fruition. I will be researching the deeper meanings of "feweristics" soon as a friend mentioned this concept to me this weekend. I immediately attached it into the context of Greensboro. Here, there are fewer choices for shopping, eating, entertainment which means less paralysis of analysis. Some would call it boring, but I think it is liberating. There are fewer distractions, fewer time wasting activities, fewer obligations. And that's the way I like it. That's part of what makes Greensboro good.