I've been needing to visit my sister for a long time... She is actually rather special to me, but since she remarried and finally found real happiness, well… I’ve had my own way to find, so the bottom line is, I haven’t stayed in touch like I should have… Time to work on fixing that, I figured…
Lacking any better idea, I was actually heading for Florida… I suppose I felt a need to renew my ‘lease’ with my landlady. Reaching out and touching someone by phone is a good thing; but, it truly isn’t a long-term substitute for the physical version. I’ve been a ‘tenant’ for well over a year now, but I’ve barely spent even one month actually there… if all the bits and pieces of brief visits were added together…
We haven’t had a ‘romantic’ relationship since our divorce was final more than thirteen years ago, but we have remained friends… dear friends. Anyway, I thought it might be a good idea to drop by for a while and make sure I still had a ‘place’ to roost… Does that mean I’m insecure? Nah… practical maybe… possibly even prudent…
Well, to swing by my sister’s place is only one state over out of the way from Clinton, TN, to Ocala, Florida, so… why not? I called to make sure she was going to be home, and to test the waters… All clear! Come on by.
An easy day ride to Arab, AL, but a nice ride nonetheless. No challenging roads or anything, just nice, peaceful rolling along with lots of time for reminiscing, soul-searching, perfect for thinking about stuff… I’ve always been curious about the name of that town… I made a mental note to ask my brother-in-law about that and how it was chosen…
I would be arriving on a Wednesday afternoon later in the day. My sister has church stuff to do on that night each week… so, she doesn’t cook then. I took that to mean I should eat before arriving… She meant it to mean we should go out when I got there, if I arrived in time for that… Oh well…
I rode around looking for something that could fill the bill for people-fuel intake, and also afford me another ‘opportunity’… one to deal with a growing ‘exhaust’ issue! I’d had a highly elevated pooperosity level for quite a while by then, and it was showing no signs of abating or even leveling off. Nope, it was increasing with each successive mile, and I would not have time to stop for a potty break, then to dine, and afterward make it to my sister’s… I could do one or the other, but not all three!
I saw a sign… ‘Southern Hickory Smoked BBQ’, and I immediately knew that would be the place! I’d just deal with the exhaust issue first, then take my fill of good ol’ smoked pork BBQ, one of my most favorite of the basic food groups! Dang! What’s this…?
That place didn’t offer dine-in eating! They did have a few picnic tables under a covered patio, but… it was basically all pick-up at the walk-up window or drive-thru. Worse, no public restrooms either!!! Down the road another block or so was a Burger King, but… a burger when BBQ is available? I don’t think so… Let me just think here a second… OK, I have a plan…
I ordered a sandwich to-go, and I patiently waited while it was being prepared… worrying about would it be in time… Thinking to myself that I’m really going to have to stop cutting things so close!!! Sweat was beginning to pop-up on my forehead… my voice was gaining an octave or two, and I was exercising super-human strength resisting the urge to scream out… “HURRY-UP FOLKS: THIS IS NOT A DRILL!”
The sandwich finally came, and the nice, white-haired lady made my change… I wish things would have been different… She was so nice, I’d really have enjoyed complimenting her and thanking her for being so very nice… However, no time for such niceties this time! I was as polite as I could be, though, and I did manage a big smile and sincere ‘thank you’… then I was off… in a hurry!
I didn’t even fasten the chin strap on my helmet or put on my sun-shades, not even my gloves! Seconds were precious now, so no time to waste on legal technicalities! Just in the nick of time, I headed into Burger King with a purposeful gait!!! Nice to have fast food places readily available when you really, really need them! That hasn’t always been the case, but this time it was…
I was soooooo happy about that!!! Imagine my concern about showing up at my sister’s house with… ummmm… dingy drawers! Wonder if she would have let me borrow her coffee pot...? Moot point now…! (I'm starting to wonder if maybe Ultimate seats have some sort of laxative properties... reckon?)
(Photo courtesy of Motor City Gig)
After devouring that delightful mound of pig parts between bun halves, I arrived at Nora's house, and all was straightened out and my misunderstanding forgiven. Shortly, she had to leave, though, so just Rayburn and I remained. Time to get to the bottom of the town name mystery… On the way to their house, coincidentally, I’d noticed the name of one of the roads was ‘Arad Thompson RD’... Hmmm… Well, Rayburn confirmed the connection for me.
It seems that when the town was first formed, it was named for that distinguished local planter, who had donated land for the town square… Arad Thompson. Well, a misspelling in the original documents had resulted in the name becoming ‘Arab’.
By the time the error was discovered, corrections way back then were deemed too much of a bother, so they were never made… Remember, this was more than a century and a half before ‘Spellcheck’, computers, or even typewriters had come along, so that meant all changes to documents would have required re-writing the entire document; and, everything would have to be done by hand. OK, and another thing... well, that town happens to be located in the shadow of Sand Mountain… Perhaps another bit of local lore…
Sand Mountain is said to be… well… 'backward' seems inappropriately offensive, so maybe I’ll just say ‘primitive’ instead… It’s a well-known rumor that up there, even Episcopalians handle snakes during services… Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been all over that area, and I’ve found wonderful, God-fearing folks, who would make anybody proud to call them neighbor or ‘friend’. It is just a bit different, though, and… a bit anachronistic…
Nora returned from church, and our reminiscing session began in earnest. I’m only thirteen months older than she, so our recollections of our childhoods closely align. Dang! I can’t believe I’ve gone so long since our last time doing this!!!
Always fun to take a stroll down memory lane with someone who knows your past, but… well, doesn’t rub-it-in too hard! Yeah, she knows where ‘a lot of the bodies’ in my ‘closet’ are, but she’s always proven trustworthy with those secrets… Still, I’m doing what I can to stay on her good side anyway, just in case…
I awoke when she announced she was going to bed. I had dozed-off while we were watching the local news and weather… Rayburn had already turned-in. I suspect she’d had her eyelids droop a bit too, but I really don’t know.
The next morning, we all went out for breakfast. Although they are both retired, they are like so many other retirees who have much activity in their lives… It was time for me to get out of their way…
DDT
