I have been thinking a lot about choices lately and changes and about letting go and following my heart. My heart is beginning I think to tell me to go home.One of the things I want to do this year is nurture my family relationships and that is hard to do cross country.Don't get me wrong I love Oregon and no matter where we go I will carry a huge part of her with me always. She is a gorgeously beautiful place and I love her but home to me is the South.I find myself smiling when I hear southern accents on the TV and am finding I want to read books set in the south.I never knew nor would have known if I hadn't lived elsewhere how much my roots mean to me and how proud I am to be southern. I get teased almost daily by patients and family members at work about my accent and some seem to think that because I talk slow I am slow but I am not. I just smile and go about my business.
I love the south for so many reasons:
The food-no place has better food, and I love the way the food is such a part of the culture. It is how we say I love you, I am sorry , and welcome.I miss sweet tea, real bbq,catfish and hushpuppies and on and on.
The music-I miss the haunting melodies of bluegrass in the mountains, the mourningly beautiful blues and the poetry of country music and the anthems of my youth from Southern Rock.
The landscape-the beauty of a magnolia in bloom, the sweet beauty of azaleas blooming as if dressed for a prom, the Spanish moss hanging from trees like tears, the lightning bugs on a summer night , the sugar white sands of the Florida panhandle.
The history- We southerners appreciate where we came from and know that it makes us who we are. I find that even on facebook sometimes we southerners can trace a family tree like no other people.
The faith-I find it comforting that in most towns in the south there are more churches than anything else. It is such a part of life and the fabric of the south.There is nothing more beautiful than a Black gospel choir praising god .
I don't know when but I think eventually we will be going home to either Nashville or North Carolina. I want to be able to spend holidays with my sister and watch my niece and nephew grow up.
So this year will be a year of choices and changes and I am okay with that. I am okay with letting go and following where my prayers and heart leads. I don't know who the quote is by below but I love it
In the South, the breeze blows softer... neighbors are friendlier, nosier, and more talkative. (By contrast
with the Yankee, the Southerner never uses one word when ten or twenty will do). This is a different
place. Our way of thinking is different, as are our ways of seeing, laughing, singing, eating, meeting
and parting. Our walk is different, as the old song goes, our talk and our names. Nothing about us is
quite the same as in the country to the north and west. What we carry in our memories is different,
too and that may explain everything else.
27 comments:
I don't blame you. I feel the same about California. I truly truly miss it.
wisconsin will always be with me no matter where i go...but the south is calling me......
oh, you make me want to live there :)
Me, too! You are so right about the words.I do miss the colorful language of southern talkers. I have to tell you that I am making pinto beans and fried potatoes for supper, andy the beans smell so good!
I know how you feel. Follow your heart and best wishes with all your decisions.
My brother lives in Georgia, he says he will never leave it. He loves the South so much. I imagine I would to as I have to many southern leanings.
Sometimes it is good to go back to our roots because in that we finally come home. :)
my husband is from kentucky and i am from the midwest. he talks slow and i talk too fast. he still drinks sweet tea, and i still feel the pull of my northern roots every autumn, even though both of us have lived in florida for over 30 years. but the south is home to us both, now. and as you say, being close to family is so important.
i love the thoreau quote and also the mary oliver poem from your previous posts, too.
It is very strange but I've always felt my soul, my connection, my spirit belongs in the South. I've never been there but I long to go...follow your heart...you will never be disappointed if you do!
I think we always feel that way about our "real" homes. I wish you peace in your decision.
Living overseas far from my family and the place I grew up, I know what you mean, Yolanda. I've come to call Norway home thanks to my lovely Norwegian husband & family here. But I still have my heart home of Pennsylvania and all my dear folk there--times back home are precious. I admire your courage to consider all the changes & decision you'll be mulling over. Trust your heart... it always tells us what we need. :o) Blessings to you... And thank you for a taste of the south here today! Happy Weekend ((HUGS))
I've never lived anywhere but in TN and GA and so much of what you say is so very true. I think it stems from an underlying trust of people? People in the South never meet a stranger and in smaller towns, everyone is somehow related to everyone else, so it's like seven degrees of Kevin Bacon no matter where you go. Relationships are so very valued and traditions are revered. I simply can't imagine living any place else. Come on home... we'll leave the light on for you. ;c)
Great post. Home is home is home. Yankee though I am, I love the South, too. Just the way it is.
I hope going home will be all you've dreamt. It sounds very good and Im sure you'll get a loving welcome.
Have you read this book that I mention here?
Listen to your inner voice and there will be no regrets!
Sounds like you'd better start packing. *smile* Don't forget to take us with you!
I understand. I believe we all have a spiritual home and we are drawn there.
I understand and believe that we all have a spiritual home to which we are drawn.
I know what you mean...there's no place like home (I live in Nebraska..but Massachusetts is my true home). You sure make me want to spend some time in the south!
Good luck with all your plans!! I would love to visit the South.
You know I loved this post : ) Happy Valentines Day!
What a wonderful post. Glad I stumbled by. Truly- there is no place quite like home. Your heart is there.
i wanted to stop in and thank you. thank you for your comforting words, when i needed them most.
i love you, friend.
When we're young, we want nothing more than to get away, but as we get older we want nothing more than to go home. That's absolutely why I'm back in Oregon now. Born and raised in the Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon and even though we are on the coast, it's still my Oregon. Someday I'll get back to my little corner of the world. If your heart is pulling you home, my friend, then go. If you can - go.
Beautiful post. Our hearts will always long for home. Thanks so much for sharing.
Smiles♥
Beverly
Hoping everything is okay, Yolanda.
I am pretty sure I hear the South calling your name too :) You already have friends and family here :) Hope all is well and goes well.
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