I got my big bad company truck this week! It only took them four months to get it to me, but better late than never. Its really fun to drive, handles well and nobody rides up my ass anymore out on I-40. what a relief to be the ass rider for once! I guess I might be a borderline redneck, but only in the good ways, I love driving this truck, I love Budweiser beer, I love country music and I can totally relate to these good old boys I'm working with.... maybe I'm just a chameleon haha! Craziest job I have ever had, that's for damn sure!
The weather is pretty crazy now too. I have been on the road all week and running from these evening storms. Sometimes I win, sometimes they win. The storm won last night. I was between Kinston and Goldsboro, crossing some farmland when a big bad storm came up out of nowhere. It was the first time I have ever seen 18 wheelers literally stop in the middle of the road. There was a brown dust cloud blowing off the farm across the road, mixed with hurricane force winds and rain and my heart was a thumping in my ears!
I thought it might be a tornado but it didn't have that sound a tornado has. Ive been in a tornado so I know what it sounds like, trust me.... it was a scary scary storm. I sat there with my seatbelt on wondering if my truck was going to flip over. At least its a big bad truck, so I felt pretty safe. Sat there and ate, checked emails, pondered the ending of my life..... this was the storm I ran from tonight, I won.
The banners I designed are in and I have spent the week sorting them and getting them distributed to stores. The stores I trust to put them up got theirs by truck, the stores I just like to go visit or don't trust to do it my picky way, got a personal install by me. By the end of July, I will have 20 stores complete with new resets. It has been a journey my friends......
Yesterday in New Bern, the gauge in my truck said 107 degrees when I got in it after working in the store all day. I feel like my contacts are melting in my eyeballs when I walk outside and my hair and clothing is just in a constant state of damp. It's hot ya'll. The poor people that move here from up north to get away from those cold winters. I just have to laugh. They had no idea what summer in the south was gonna be like!
But this is what summer in the south is really like. Sweet summer corn. I stopped for lunch today and there was a farm stand in front of this corn field. A very old African American man was driving up to the stand on his tractor with a load of corn on the trailer he was pulling. I wish I had a photo, but I just stood there taking in the Dorthea Lange moment of it. What a sight to behold. God I love the south! Got me some corn, he said to put the silk end in first so my bag wouldn't tear, smart.... then I got some cantaloupe that smelled like a perfume God might make, some tomatoes and drove happily home with the smell of summer in my 107 degree heated car. Turned on the radio and got ready to race the storms. I got home early and the storm hit just after I had a tomato sandwich for supper.
Bliss....
So anyway, about that worm in the corn metaphor. As most of you are aware, I'm sure, NPR only talked about the events of this week, the shootings, the waste of life, the continuing decay of a society obsessed with violence and race..... I listened to as much as I could stand, and then turned it off.
And then...... this gentle black man brought corn up on his tractor....
and then.... I was in a store and overheard a conversation three young teen African American girls were having. It went something like this: "I think we all just ought to get along and care for each other, and stop all this shooting, the Bible says we should love each other and Jesus loved everyone". and then they smiled at me and said hello.......
and then I went in a convenience store and the African American woman at the register smiled at me and asked me to "Have a blessed day"......
and then I saw a highway patrol officer on the side of the road in his ridiculous hot uniform, on his knees helping a guy change a flat on his boat trailer...... and then as I pumped gas another police officer pulled up at the tank beside me, got out and smiled and said hello. (Of course, I'm a white girl, but still, he was nice.)
Every encounter I had with "people of color" and police officers was a pleasant and kind moment today. We didn't want to kill each other, we didn't hate each other, we just recognized we were human and treated each other as we would like to be treated. It was a relief to have these moments when so many are in pain today and not feeling that kindly towards each other. I feel like I did have a blessed day and I thank that beautiful black woman that smiled and asked me to have one! There's not always a worm in the corn
peace y'all
xo
