[a day in] tiny town, usa

We just got back from a visit at the Grandparent's this week.  No one ever believes us when we say that Mom is from wa-haaaaaaay down south on county roads that go for miles and miles and miles and miles.  I myself have taken friends out there with me and it never fails that every time they start to get a little antsy, asking me if I'm sure I know where I'm going and thinking that I am some kind of crazed serial killer taking them to their death.  Seriously, it is that far.

My mom's parents still live in the Tiny Town [pop. 3,000] that she grew up in, deep in Alabama.  Well, to say that would imply that they actually live in said Tiny Town.  Truth be told they live about 15 miles outside of Tiny Town in a community.  Remember in Social Studies when they would teach you about communities?  Well, they do exist.  My Granddaddy, at the ripe ole age of 79 became the oldest living male in their community.  Ha!  [And he still proudly holds that title.]  His older brother lives in a community over so he is safe!

One of the down sides of living so far out of Tiny Town is there is limited access to internet and cell service.  For a while there [mostly while I was in college & grad school] I loved having this excuse for not being able to answer anyone's questions or problems.  'I'm sorry, but I didn't have service while up there; I wish I could have helped you research the physical properties of bamboo and how it's use in 3rd World countries is relevant to green design in the USA today!'  It's just nice sometimes not having to resist the urge to check your email or text log.  Sometimes we need a break, whether we know it or not.  But sometimes this can be a hindrance and the need for electronic contact is necessary.  So, Daddy and I took a trip down to the McDonald's to begin our day in Tiny Town, USA.

Why do we go to McDonald's, you may ask?  Well, if you were not living under a rock during 2010 you will recall that all McDonald's now have free Wi-Fi.  We both took our book bags loaded down with computers, calculators, and password logs to spend the morning working on whatever things we both needed to work on.

The McDonald's in Tiny Town is located inside the Chevron station.  [See picture above].  This was my view all morning; people pumping their gas on this side of town.  McDonald's is situated on the edge of town, with 2 red lights separating it from the other side of Tiny Town.

One thing I love about tiny towns in the south is God's presence.  Of the 3 groups of people that inhabited the booth behind me during our stay, 2 of them were discussing God's desire to hear you praying and calling out to Him.  It's refreshing to hear this as I do not hear this often in Humongous City, USA.

Our set up for the morning.  Nothing helps work along like a good old McDonald's sausage biscuit and Diet Coke [topped off with real Coke, of course!].  Or in Daddy's case, a Diet Dr. Pepper. 

On Dad's trip back from the restroom [inside the Chevron, of course!] he noticed all of the Daniel Moore paintings that covered the walls.  'It's not every McDonald's that you walk in that you see original Daniel Moore paintings everywhere.'  [Daniel Moore is a popular athletic artist of southern schools.]

As you can see, I fit in quite nicely with my hounds-tooth flip-flops.  Almost everyone out at the pumps was wearing some form of Alabama gear.  The others were wearing the high school's colors.  I heard talk of the game all morning...

We headed home around 1:00, but not before a quick stop at 'The Pig'!  I wanted to stop and get saccharin before heading home; it is so hard to find in Texas.  Thank goodness for the Piggly Wiggly!

Granddaddy got a new toy-a pea sheller!  I have been informed that it also shells beans.  I reckon on those days it's called a bean sheller.

A farmer & an engineer.  Can you tell which one is which?!  I can tell you that it doesn't get much better than this for either one of them!  GDaddy had it on to show us how it worked and Daddy walked right over and stuck his nose down in it 'wanting to see how it worked'.  It's times such as these that we are thankful that he wears his hair in a bald cut.  Otherwise it might have grabbed him by the hair, stripped him of his clothes, and dumped him out naked in the catching bucket!

I know a few people who would die to have this weather at home!  [If they don't die from the weather at home first!]  It was rather comfortable [or so we the visitors thought] and you could hear us all saying things like, 'It's pretty nice here in the shade', 'That cool breeze feels good', and 'So this is what under 100 degrees feels like!'.  GMother & GDaddy did not quite agree.

The perfect wishbone of a limb had broken and lodged itself up in a tree.  I, of course, needed to help.  Dad's side broke off but it was before I made my wish :-(  But he had to finish getting it down for me-so who really won?

View from the front yard-I think that's cotton growing in the fields right now?

I'm so glad we  were able to get this picture.  If you look real close, you can see GDaddy's mo-hawk that I fashioned just before the picture.  He has the world's craziest hair; he has to wear hairspray in it for it to lay down and stay down.  That being said, with the amount of hairspray that is always covering it, it will do anything you want it to.  And there it will stay!

Remember the football game I mentioned earlier?  Well wouldn't you know we ended up at the game for some good ole Alabama high school football where the whole town comes out to support their beloved team.  My GUncle came over for grilled hamburgers and then we headed out for what turned out to be a really good game.  Along the path into the stadium we found some paw prints that belonged to my cousin...

...and cousins on the field.  It's so crazy to me when we go up there.  It really is like we are related to half of the people in the whole county.  Growing up in Louisiana we had zero cousins or relatives in the entire state!  It seemed like all of my friends were related to at least one other person at our school or even one of our rivals and we [the kids] always kinda felt left out.  Thankfully, though, we had some really good church friends who we love and still see more than we would if they were related to us!

Once again, I was thankful to have my hounds-tooth on!  I just wish I had worn some up top so people didn't have to look down at my feet to know where I hold my allegiance.

Mom was really glad that we were able to go to the game; she saw many an old high school friend.  My mom's first cousin happened to save us seat directly behind 2 of her classmates [that had married after high school] and their son was one of the main ball carriers all night long.  It was fun knowing a couple of players on the field!

Like I said, the game was a good one!  We left with a W [24-7, I think. Ha!]  and all the town was happy.  Thus ends a day in Tiny Town, USA.  Well, we still had a 25+ minute plus ride back to the house where we heard my mom say over and over how long and uphill her 1 hour and 15 minute bus ride was everyday for 12 years.  She says 'It was uphill both ways,' and I say, 'At least you weren't pushing the bus up all those hills!'