Things I will miss about Alabama

We left Alabama.

Wife got a job back up north. In New Jersey, outside of Atlantic City.

I wasn't ready to leave yet. It was too soon. I was only barely just beginning to incorporate the pace of life into my own rhythms, make them a real part of me. I was only just beginning to get a sense of how I could incorporate the politics of the place into my own political philosophy, rationalize those things that made no sense to me by examining them from whence they came. Like the statute of Nathan Bedford Forrest in the Selma Cemetery. The incongruity of just that. Right there. And how the majority of the people who still live in Alabama try to rise above their past, while honoring it at the same time.

It was starting to change me. And I welcomed it.

And I miss it, terribly.

Even though I stuck out like a sore thumb.

Here are the top 10 things (in no particular order) I'll miss about Alabama

1. The 200 acres of farmland in Macon County that I camped on, hunted on, and moved cows on, and that brought me peace and quiet so many times
2. The pine trees swinging in the wind
3. The sound of the whippoorwill on spring and fall nights
4. The color of the sunshine, so bright
5. The Auburn family
6. The smell of football on fall Saturdays in the South
7. The friendliness of strangers
8. The waves of people in cars driving through the neighborhood
9. $17 golf
10. The friends we made there

This blog is now finished.

Still the Greatest View

It feels good to be back up north, even if it is only a few days

"Exactly what your father told me not to"

That was my response to the question: "What'd you get?"

The thing being referred to? The first deer I ever killed.

I had decided several months ago that I wanted to go hunting. 3 reasons for this:

1. I've become pretty close with 2 guys in my nieghborhood, both of whom hunt. A little male bonding in the woods is good.
2. I have acquired a taste for venison since we moved here.
3. I am a fan of Michael Pollan and the real food movement. We're members of our local CSA, we don't eat anything that has over 5 ingredients listed on the label, and the farther we can check out of the industrial food complex the better. 

Hence, going deer hunting makes sense to me. It's another Southern experience to write about.

The Drive up I-65

No where (that I can think of, yet) embodies the elements necessary to scare the shit out of a Yankee visiting the state of Alabama than a drive along I-65 North from Montgomery to the state line of Tennessee. It has just about everything you could ask for, from the Confederate battle flag to Religious fundamentalism to outright hatred of democrats.

Good lord, I nearly shit my pants everytime I drive it.

On Dothan and Alligators

Look at that thing! It's huge! (That's what she said....HEE-YOOOO!!!)

We've never been to South Alabama before. Our neighbors who used to live here in Auburn moved back home to Dothan two months ago, and we decided to visit them.

We were told we were going to go fishing, and that we'd be hunting an alligator.

Wait, I'm sorry....A what?

Tuskegee Adventure

Tuskegee is famous for a lot of different things. The Tuskegee Institute and George Washington Carver. The birthplace of Rosa Parks. The Tuskegee Airmen. Tuskegee University.

We had the opportunity to visit one day, lured by the promise of Sweet Potatoes and a celebration of George Washington Carver at the Farmer's Market there.

Unfortunately, the Sweet Potato Festival was a complete and total bust. We arrived to a practically empty Farmer's Market (save for a few farmers), and a small table manned by a few schoolgirls and their handmade signs about what Carver did with sweet potatoes. It was a sad, but amusing sight. The girls had a small microphone and gave a short presentation on all the great things Carver did. It was like I was back in elementary school listening to classmates give book reports in the front of class.

"George Washington Carver was a great man. He was a scientist, and studied sweet potatoes. He raised them in his garden....He was a great man."

You get the idea.

The mini-vacation: Maker Mark Day @ Keeneland and Disney

We just got back from driving 2,000 miles in 5 days.  Wooof...my butt hurts from sitting that long, but we did have a great time. Allow me to explain.

Racetracks. Yes, we are bettors

Every year, the bourbon, Maker's Mark, sponsors a day at the Keeneland Race track in Lexington, KY. As we are Kentucky Colonels, I like drinking bourbon, and the wife's Dad and wife live there, we decided to head on up and bet the ponies. 10 races, 5 bets, we walked away with about $65, basically breaking even when you consider we paid for lunch, etc.


It was a nice afternoon, followed by a delicious dinner at a local German restaurant named Marikkas. Brats, sauerkraut, wiener schnitzel and beer? Yes, please!

Maker's Mark day at Keeneland was followed by the Retirement party of the CEO of the company, Bill Samuels. He's the 7th(?) generation of Samuels to distill bourbon and he had a blow out to celebrate. A very large tent was set up in a hotel parking lot in downtown Lexington. There was a band, lighting and sound equipment, food, and of course, booze. Tickets were $10 a pop and all proceeds went to a local shelter for battered woman (insert snarky comment here about booze and abuse).