A Southern Feeling

I cherish the moments spent in my grandfather Rex’s old, rusted chair, which is now painted a deep green to hide the weathering of well-oiled hands. The chair sits in my backyard on the edge of a pond within the ideal image of a southern life. This stereotypical image often depicts nature such as wild animals, an assortment of trees, flowers, fields of crops, vegetation, beautiful countryside, and small, hospitable communities. Large family events, home cooked meals, and early morning worship on Sundays also tie into the southern life style. Headland, my welcoming hometown in southeast Alabama or the Wiregrass Area as citizens would say because of the abundance of wiregrass, is not far from that description. Gazing from the driveway alongside my house, I view what looks more like a mural or painting rather than real life. Words will never do this plush scenery of trees, water, wild animals, and landscape justice. As I begin to walk down the slope of ground toward the chair, I can hear the crunching of dead leaves beneath my feet. The sound of squirrels scattering up nearby trees startles me. The cool, soft breeze is a calming welcome to my grandfather’s chair or what I call it, “the best seat in the house”.
As I sit down in the newly refurnished chair, the strong aroma of wood and nature surrounds me reminding me of childhood memories. In the South, it is almost a requirement that children play outside. The rural communities of southeast Alabama are different than those of urban cities. Children are safe here. The largest threat is the king snake occasionally seen whom disappears before one can have a good look. Although humid, the weather in the Wiregrass is ideal for children to play and run. Video games and computers are secondary to the outdoors and are mainly used on rainy days. Getting filthy with dirt and mud is the main goal throughout a child’s day. I can remember playing hide-and-go-seek, capture the flag, and exploring the woods behind my home. My friends and I would dream of the huge tree houses we could build and all the adventures in store. What I would give to go back to the days where life was full of carelessness and laughter. As I glance to my right, I can see a fishing line and lour mangled in the pine tree overlooking the water. This too is a souvenir of my childhood from when my father and sister first began teaching me how to fish. Of course, here, we did not buy an automatic metal pole from a department store. We used a cane pole made from a bamboo tree with a fishing line and a worm as bait. Even though life is so molecularly complex, in the south, its just so simple. I can feel the wind becoming cooler as the minutes pass, partly because the sun is slowly melting into the forest across the water. Here, in Alabama, a mere twenty degrees Fahrenheit causes schools to be canceled as the thrilling thought of snow lures in everyone’s mind. Autumn is approaching if it has not already made its arrival. I can see many trees beginning to turn shades of orange, yellow, and brick red, while evergreens maintain the deep forest color in the leaves. The days are getting shorter by the minute. It will be only a matter of weeks before daylight ends around five thirty in the evening.
A sudden grey object darts into the high cat-tails and Bermuda grass about ten feet from my chair. As I retain a frightening manner, I realize the object is my black and grey striped house cat, Angel. She has found the pond’s family of ducks seeking shelter in the vegetation. The roar of the ducks and Angel’s hissing causes a ruckus throughout the entire area. I can hear birds chirping overhead, squirrels running through the broken leaves, and calves crying in the field across the water. Wild animals are a normal part of my life. I occasionally see deer, possums, and the dreaded king snake that lives nearby. Another animal, who is confined to the South, is the gnat. Similar but smaller than a fly, gnats are completely harmless but are a terrible annoyance in the hot weather.
Thankfully, I am able to turn my attention to the soothing fountain that has recently erupted from the still water. A pastel pink, iridescent light shines from the base of the wall of water. The fountain sends the bright liquid twenty-five feet into the air creating a calm sound of rain as the droplets hit the pond. I sit, close my eyes, and wish this feeling would never cease. Once again, an interruption has brought me back from my day dreaming state of mind, but this interruption is worth leaving my vision. The aroma of freshly baked bread and fried chicken quickly drifts by. It is my sister’s thirty-second birthday and I can only imagine what my mother is preparing. I hope mashed potatoes, green beans, and hash brown casserole are on the menu, and of course blackberry cobbler for dessert. Blackberries grow wild around my neighborhood, and no other dessert can surpass my mother’s fresh blackberry treat.
Food is also more than the daily vitamins and protein needed to survive. A meal is a time for family and friends to come together and share conversation. It is a tradition and celebration of the day. Every Christmas, instead of having the typical dressing, vegetables, and dessert, my family created our own tradition. On Christmas day, we have baked oysters that my father shucked, grilled shrimp, and an assortment of side dishes.
As the sun continues to submerge into the horizon, the sky is a deep orange and extends outward into a red, then pink followed by every shade of blue imaginable. Here, we do not have mountainous regions and barely any hills. This allows the sun to slowly sink into the open sky causing a rainbow of bright colors every evening. I can now hear a car driving down the driveway. I assume it is my sister here to claim her birthday presents and supper, or maybe the first wave of friends and family members that are invited to celebrate. I reluctantly rise from my favorite chair and both Angel and I begin to ascend the small hill to greet our guests. Half way to my house, I turn around and view the wonderful gift of nature and tradition that God has given the world and realize, “I would never choose to live anywhere else”.