Posted by: Bethany
You know, I’ll always be a country girl. I have been my entire life. I grew up at the end of gravel roads…miles from the nearest “town”. And by town, I mean churches (well, this is the Bible Belt…we have a church for every third person!), school, a Piggly Wiggly, and a volunteer fire department.
I know all there is to know about honeysuckle, creeks, snapping turtles, tin roofs…
You’re talking to a girl who used to dress baby pigs up in baby doll clothes and play hide-and-seek in a corn field. I’ve tasted the honeysuckle and know that the tiny violets that grow in grass, wild onions, and seeds from pinecones are edible. Some of my earliest memories are from camping on creek banks and riding up and down the creek in my dad’s old green boat checking catfish lines.
My very earliest memory (my parents think I was about five months old) is of going to the creek to see some of my dad’s friends. They had caught the most enormous snapping turtle and had it tied to a stake on the creek bank. I remember my mother holding me tightly (she later confessed that the turtle made her nervous and she wanted to leave) and feeling afraid…but safe. This memory is completely in black and white and with no sound. Kinda weird, ya think?
When the song Boondocks came out by Little Big Town, I must say, I truly understood. It is the song of my life.
I feel no shame
I’m proud of where I came from
I was born and raised in the boondocks
One thing I know
No matter where I go
I keep my heart and soul in the boondocksAnd I can feel
That muddy water running through my veins
And I can hear that lullaby of a midnight train
It sings to me and it sounds familiarAnd I can taste
That honeysuckle and it’s still so sweet
When it grows wild
On the banks down at old camp creek
Yeah, and it calls to me like a warm wind blowingIt’s where I learned about living
It’s where I learned about love
It’s where I learned about working hard
and getting by with just enoughIt’s where I learned about Jesus
And knowing where I stand
You can take it or leave it, this is me
This is who I amGive me a tin roof
A front porch and a gravel road
And that’s home to me
It feels like home to meI keep my heart and soul in the boondocks
You get a line, I’ll get a pole
We’ll go fishing in the crawfish hole
Five-card poker on a Saturday night
Church on Sunday morning
Only we were more likely to play Hearts or Rummy on Saturday night! Ohhh…but that midnight train. I remember!
Even when we moved closer to “town” when I was in second grade, we still lived in the country. We still lived at the end of a gravel road. And we were in walking distance of not one, but two creeks. I grew up playing in the woods surrounding our house, wading in the smaller creek behind our house (even been known to do that on the coldest of December days…), and hiking to the larger creek across the road in front of our house to swim. We would have rope swings and log bridges to jump from. (My parents still live here…)
In high school, I went through a period of being a bit ashamed of coming from a small town. And living in the country. It didn’t seem too terribly exciting. It seemed terribly glamorous to be able to say you were from New York City, LA, Chicago….or even Atlanta or Dallas….And words like redneck, hick and country bumpkin were never said with much admiration….
It seemed new students would come from all over and feel that they had been forced to live in the worst place in the world. Moving from a city to our small world must have been a shocker…(you can ask my husband about that! Raised in Tuscon and LA and then moving to Diamondhead, MS at the age of 16!) but I let it color my perspective of where I came from.
I must say that I’m way over that feeling now. I’ve been to many, many large cities. They are fun. They are exciting. But I will always be a county-girl at heart. My favorite places will be secluded places…with water and trees. I’ll always love a large yard, woods bursting with pine trees, a babbling, gurgling creek with their sandy bars lined with honeysuckle, gravel roads, barbed-wire fences, woodpiles, old barns, bullous vines (yummy)….
So, since I’ve moved to the city (Gulfport, MS…a small city by all standards but quite large enough for this country girl) and live by a busy four way stop where people love to drive through, squealing their breaks and blasting their radios at 2:00 in the morning (which I’ve finally gotten used to) I must admit, I’m not in such a bad situation.
You see…all these pictures were taken in my backyard.
There are not many places like this left in Gulfport. But fortunately, if I have to live in the city, God has seen fit to bless me with a place that still has a very open and country feel. Even if every plane flies right over my house before landing at the airport!
April 11th, 2006 at 8:56 am
Lovely post.
I am just the opposite. I was raised “in town” and had a strong dislike for the outdoors and wide open spaces when I was a kid. There were bugs, you know! It has only been in the last 8 or 9 years that I have grown to love the country and nature.
April 11th, 2006 at 11:13 am
I wish I lived in a place like you do. If I do a cart wheel in my backyard, I will literally land in my neighbor’s yard. I was a military brat who moved every 3-4 years, but both my hubby and I were born in the wonderful State of Mississippi! We both love to eat cornbread and milk, yum!!
April 11th, 2006 at 11:56 am
Do you remember that one summer day when we went down to the creek and ran back in the pouring rain? And I only slipped in the mud twice! I do miss those days at your house. I know that was a long time ago, but maybe our kids will have such adventures together.
April 11th, 2006 at 2:33 pm
Paula,
You definately got a great start…cause I truly appreciate the wonders of being a Mississippian NOW. I did not always! My Mom loves the cornbread and milk thing but I never quite caught on to that one. She considers it a dessert. I need chocolate to feel like I’ve had dessert!
Hope,
I tell that story often! It was soooo much fun! We did have some adventures, didn’t we? I was a terrible influence on you. You were so much more refined. I’m sure my kids will be hooligans while your girls will be little ladies…that probably think my ruffians are quite weird!!
April 11th, 2006 at 3:14 pm
Some back yard! I am a city girl I suppose…I grew up in london, but now live in a small(ish) North Devon village. I love it here, but I wish I knew all about the plants and wildlife etc. I am glad my little boy will get tpo grow up in sight of a stream and green fields.
April 11th, 2006 at 8:49 pm
Girl, I can relate! I’ve never wanted to live anywhere with a city feel. But we’re military and that is about to change for us. We move to D.C. this summer!! I’m going to enjoy every minute of our trips home from that big place.
Loved the photos and descriptions. Makes me homesick.
April 12th, 2006 at 4:52 am
I loved the pictures in this post–real and imaginary. It was good, Bethany!
April 13th, 2006 at 1:42 pm
Thanks for the memories! I was born in Dallas, but lots of our extended family lived in places like you describe, and how well I remember swimming in a creek, picking wild grapes, dove hunting with my daddy, hauling hay on my uncle’s farm….oh my goodness, such great memories!
June 10th, 2006 at 8:19 am
[...] This may be a surprise, but my favorite posts to write are when I have thoughts to share about my Christian walk or family life. I post so much fluffy content or filler content that may not show on my blog. But I’m happiest with my deeper posts. I guess I’m just too lazy to do it often. If you want to see my favoirte posts from this blog, here they are! What do you think is your biggest strength blogwise? Biggest weakness? [...]