Hometown News - Watcha Doing?

(Disclaimer: This story did not make the front page. It was published on page 4)

This is another recent story from my hometown newspaper. It was entered exactly as written, abbreviated and punctuated:

Family Travels 2,000 Miles During Vacation

On June 4, 2010, Dale “Pete” and Loretta _______ took his mother, Iva Mae ______, to her son’s home, Doug and Pamela ______ at Cleveland, Tenn., for vacation. Dale and Loretta returned home June 5.

While in Tennessee, Mrs. ______ visited with Pamela’s mother and stepfather, James and Doris ______. She also visited with her granddaughter and husband and great-granddaughter, Beth and Michael ______ and Alyssa, and her grandson and wife and great-granddaughter, Matthew and Victoria ______ and Megan. (Still with me so far?)

Mrs. ______ was in the Smoky Mountains the first week. She traveled through Gatlinburg and mined for gems in Pigeon Forge. There she found some semi-precious stones. She also went to North Carolina and had a meal and went to the Casino where she bought some truffles candy.

The second week they traveled to Tampa Bay, Fla., to Busch Gardens and celebrated Doug’s birthday on June 16. They stayed at the LaQuinta Motel while there. Then they went to Daytona Beach, Fla., to the Holiday Inn., located right on the beach. They went to the Chocolate Factory and watched them make candy. Iva Mae also bought some truffles there. (Hey, the lady likes truffles.) They toured the historic lighthouse, the second oldest in the world and the tallest.

The group traveled back to Tennessee on June 19. Douglas brought Mrs. ______ home on June 21.

En route to Florida (bet you thought the story was finished, didn’t you?) they went through Georgia. They enjoyed shopping at Wal-Mart, Target, and Dollar General “high end places”. They ate at Busch Gardens, Cracker Barrel, Red Lobster, Denny’s Logan’s Steak House, Shanes, and Kentucky Fried Chicken. (I'm too busy trying to clean up the soda that just came out of my nose to comment.)

This was a very nice vacation and they are planning on Mrs. ______being down there next year on her vacation.

“We all had a very nice visit and one thing I didn’t have to do wash or dry any dishes, which was a treat for me,” reported Mrs. _____.

The group traveled about 2,000 miles.

(Whew! I don’t know about you, but I'm plum tuckered out.)

My Hometown - Now and Zen

Everyone would gather around the town reservoir on the Fourth of July to watch the fireworks. I can remember my Dad grumbling about all the traffic which makes me laugh now that I know what traffic is. Some time after I got married and moved away something went wrong during one of the shows, and the fireworks started going off all at once uncontrollably which prompted people to jump in the lake to keep from getting goosed by a roman candle. For a few years after that they didn't have any fireworks, and now they shoot them off at the High School football field. (I know.)

The reservoir was eventually drained, and I have no idea where the town gets its water now.  I've heard that a couple of reasons for emptying the lake were: (1) mosquito infestation and fears of West Nile virus and (2) a problem with flooding the trailer park across the street.

When I was young, and those of you who know me will not be surprised by this, I was a very serious and thoughtful child. While other kids were playing games I would be locked inside my room calculating how old I would be in the year 2000. Later on, while other girls were dating boys I was writing poetry about relationships I didn't have. Often I would walk to the reservoir and wander to a secluded spillway, hidden by brush, on the east side of the lake.  Climbing upon it I could look out over the water as I wrote poems, read or simply pondered about the very heavy events of my young life. (I know that, too.)

I went back there last month for the first time in over 30 years. I crossed the same bridge I had always crossed and walked over to the place where the spillway used to be.

There I stood and watched the red winged blackbirds, listened to the sounds of the evening as the sun set, and as I closed my eyes I swear I felt a 35 year old breeze blow across my face carrying past emotions of triumph, loss, happiness, sadness, anger, love, shame, and pride. 

(Disclaimer: There used to be a lake here.)

Is it possible for a child to have a spiritual place? If so, I think this was mine. And probably always will be.

My Hometown - Grub Stinks

I honestly don't remember what this was called when I was growing up, but it wasn't Fairfield Produce. (Obviously, I have no home movies of it.) It was a feed store, and by that I mean dog food, cat food, hog feed, chicken feed and God knows what else.

We had to walk past it to get to the Library, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't air conditioned in the summer so, let me tell you, the smell wasn't pretty. Which is why I always crossed and walked on the other side of the street. As if that mattered.

I vaguely remember Purina being a prominent word on signs and products, many of which were stacked outside.

(Disclaimer: It doesn't smell bad at all today. We even walked inside just to make sure.)

My Hometown - Dairy Queen

As long as I can remember there was a Dairy Queen in town. It used to be a much smaller building and only opened during the summer, but there was an ice cream "wagon" (think three wheeled motor scooter with a freezer on back) that my dad called the "Dilly Wagon".

We had a rat terrier named "Tuffy" that used to sit up and beg every time he'd hear the Dilly Wagon ringing its bell as it approached (I know because we have a home movie of this), and my Dad would usually buy Tuffy a Dilly Bar (before we knew dogs weren't supposed to eat chocolate). I think I was partial to the Mr. Misty or the Push-Up. Just so you know, chocolate didn't kill the dog - the neighbor did when she ran over him backing out of the driveway.

Eventually the Dairy Queen became Dairy Queen Brazier and began serving hamburgers and fries and built this "big" beautiful building where Tammy Wynette's tour bus stopped and someone took a picture of her holding an ice cream cone and hung it on the wall.

(Disclaimer: The picture of Tammy is GONE! Kept as a souvenir by the old owners, I suspect.)

My Hometown - Where It All Began

This is the hospital where I was born. I have no memories of being born here other than the ones acquired while watching a home movie of my Mom holding me in the nursery. You know how sometimes you see pictures or movies of a time in your life and years later you are not sure you actually remember the event or just remember the picture or movie? I'm pretty sure I just remember seeing the movie.

I do remember playing with plastic army men while I was in the hospital for pneumonia when I was less then 5 (yes, I was a tomboy). I also remember being about the same age when my Mom was having gall bladder surgery and thinking I knew my way to the soda machine and accidentally stepping on the elevator and ending up on the third floor and crying because I got lost. Thank God someone found me.

My Grandma used to live a block away from the hospital. Every time she saw the ambulance pull into the ER she would call all of her kids to make sure they were okay - no matter the time of day. Or night. This seemed very annoying until she moved pretty much across the street from us.

(Disclaimer: The hospital is bigger than it used to be, and they have added a helicopter pad atop it; but there is no longer a maternity ward. The closest one is 30 miles away so I believe that planning is essential.)

My Hometown - Swimming Pool

I had intended on blogging about the place where I grew up while I have been visiting my hometown. It didn't take me long to realize that every time I started to take a picture of a place that held memories of my childhood I would have had to preface it as "This used to be..." and decided what's the point of that?

But then I realized that even the most basic description "The main drag consists of two one-way streets which travel in opposite directions" would include the disclaimer "The number of stoplights along them have doubled from two to four".

So, what the hell?

Not surprisingly, the first place that Cousin Kathy and I visited was the public swimming pool. If we weren't at the library or on the tennis courts on a summer afternoon then we were splashing around here from the time we were only allowed in the "baby pool" until well after the first frightening jump off the high diving board.

My uncle was park superintendent. Every year he gave either me or my cousin a swimming pass for our birthday. ( I always hated her it when she got the pass and I didn't.) We couldn't wait for the temperature to hit a balmy 65 so we could go swimming. We would walk to the park or ride our bikes and swim all day and then come home starved and make the most God awful triple decker sandwiches - and by that I mean we would put anything we could drag out of the cupboard or refrigerator on them.

(Disclaimer: The high dive is gone, and there are now cool beach scenes painted on the walls.)