Dogwoods and Daffodils

Many people who have never visited the south have a very Faulknerian idea of what the spring and summer are like here. There is the idea of watching life pass from the front porch while sipping a mint julep or a sweet tea. (Ok, the sweet tea part is true.) The South as seen in movies like The Long Hot Summer doesn't really exist anymore, if it ever did. At least not for the majority of southerners.

Sometimes, it's hard to remember why I have stayed in the South.

But there's a few weeks every year, usually the 2-3 weeks leading up to Easter, when the only trees in bloom are the Dogwoods and Red Buds. The daffodils and tulips are in bloom, as well. Everyone has begun cutting their grass again.

As you drive along, you can see small clusters of Dogwoods covered in white and pink blooms in between the oaks and pines with wild daffodils scattered about and the sun dappled by the taller trees, and it feels almost like nature is sharing a secret with you. And in those moments, I can't imagine living anywhere else.

The song "Southland in the Springtime" by the Indigo Girls always reminds me of that feeling, so I hope you'll enjoy it, too.


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Poem of the Month

The Flaw in Paganism

Drink and dance and laugh and lie,
Love, the reeling midnight through.
For tomorrow we shall die!
(But, alas, we never do.)

--Dorothy Parker

Why?

I am not married.
I have never been married.
I may never get married...

And I'm ok with that.

All my male friends never have anything to say about my single status; they couldn't care less or at least they never mention it if they do. All my female friends want me to get married and have babies. I have an aunt who frequently expresses her concern to my mother over my single state. She thinks something is wrong with me because I'm not desparate for marriage at my advanced age of 31 (though why she has such a high opinion of marriage I'll never know. She's been married and divorced 3 times...those are the ones we know about, anyway).

The reasons I'm not married are as simple and as complicated as you want to make them. Simple because I've never been "in love." Complicated because I've never been in love due to fact that I've never been able to trust anyone that much. My trust issues go back to my childhood and I won't drag that baggage out today, except to say I've never been able to lose said baggage, unlike Delta Airlines who had no problem losing my baggage.

But regardless of my reasons, I'm like my life as it is. If I want to go to the movies or out to dinner or anywhere else, I go. Sometimes I go with friends and/or family; sometimes I go alone. At this point, I have trouble see myself as part of a couple.

So I guess my question is: if I'm happy with my life, why isn't everyone else?