It's the South

A new building has been going up on the edge of town. The joke is,  It's another dollar store. 

• Population of our little hamlet? - 4600, give or take. 
• Number of dollar stores? - 4.
• Our newest business? -Another dollar store.

I stopped to take this picture and a woman ambled out to my car with a smile, "Do you need something?" 

"No, I wanted to post on my blog that we now have 5 dollar stores." 

She waved her hand. "Oh, we moved. That store down the block is closed. Have you been inside? We have groceries." She gestured come hither, "Check it out." 

I went in and looked around. Nice store. Nice people.

Hospitality in the face of adversity. It's the South. I love it. And my new dollar store.

Home

As the leaves fell in September, I remember my despair. My mind ached with the coming gray and bare, the monochrome of winter in South Louisiana. There's no promise of snow here, that fresh fall of magic, waking in the morning to white silence; the reverent beauty that washes the soul. I remember January in Michigan. Shovel in hand, the romance fades; snow turns to gray and fluff to mush.

I pass the barren woods near my house and recall my earlier fears. Striped of its green undergrowth, the new horizon, unseen in summer, stands naked and proud, majestic, serene, uncomplicated. My backyard hosts several ruffly azaleas, dotting the landscape with whimsy. Last year's green lay yellow and dormant beneath the final fallen leaves while perfumed hyacinths sway top heavy with white blossoms. Down the street February Camillas scream spring, dressed in their red finery. Along the country highway thousands of birds, reminiscent of Hitchcock, swoop and dance in migratory clouds, performing avian acrobatics, above fallow fields and unconcerned cows. This is home now, I feel it in my bones, or maybe it's that northeaster blowing in for one last who-rah.