Just Two Weeks left in the Tarheel State

It's raining today. The precipitation started last night some time. I heard the distant thunder and the pitter-patter of raindrops on the skylight.

We will be closing in exactly two weeks. I am still feeling some sadness about leaving this beautiful country. North Carolina is a gorgeous place to be. I will not miss the humidity, the bugs and the awful economy though.

I read this morning that things have a way to go before we see the bottom of the drop in our economy. We will weather that storm with friends and family in Arizona. There we will not have a home that is depreciating each day. Instead we'll be sitting on a modest amount of cash in the bank. The experts I've read say we're lucky to be in the position we're in. Liquidity is the best posture they say. So why do I feel sad to be leaving?

I guess it's the country boy in me. I found out that I'm not much of a southerner anymore and yet I still want to hold on to the belief that I am just a good ole country boy at heart.

Turns out that I'm somewhat more informed and enlightened than my chosen peeps. It gets harder and harder to care about NASCAR, Football, and reality TV when your country is in the crapper.

So I'll miss this time we have spent here in spite of the backwards politics, the low living standards, and the rest of the crap that comes from an economy built on WalMart.

I can look out back and see the lush greenery that makes up my backyard and pretend for just a minute that I'm back in Alabama on my Uncle's farm. My Aunt just made cornbread and we'll be having it with butter and fresh milk from his dairy. When the rain stops I'll take a couple of the dogs and go for a walk in the woods. Later I'll stop in at my Dad's cabinet shop. The smell of fresh wood, Formica glue, sawdust and the fire in the pot belly stove will greet me. A plane or router or saw will be screaming as Dad runs wood through it. He'll stop to smile at me, tell me what's going on and ask if I want to help.

Yea, I know we're doing the right thing here. It's my responsibility to look out for my family and make the best financial decision. And I know the future holds many happy days with friends and family out in Arizona. It's just that the damned ole country boy in me will miss the rain, the woods and the memory of a life so pure and simple that it seems like a fantasy now, instead of my real life history.

We'll be going by my Mom and Dad's graves in Verbena, Alabama on the way out to Phoenix. Maybe I'll see a couple of my many relatives there and reconnect a little bit. Maybe we'll just slip into town unnoticed, visit their graves, lay some flowers and leave.

Did I mention it's raining today. Rain makes me somewhat melancholy. Turns out I'm kind of a moody prick and the rain really brings it out in me.

The Daily Husband