Why I Love My Town Post

It's a beautiful cloudy morning here in Fayetteville. I realized I don't post too much about the city itself. I've mentioned certain stores or restaurants, or how they don't decorate for Halloween. But what I haven't posted enough of is just how lovely this place is. Every morning on my way to work I watch parents walk their kids to school, while others walk their dogs. There is a little coffee shop every mile, some of which let you bring your dog in. There are hippies and businessmen, there are farmers and there are ranchers, there are students and there are people that just want their own piece of heaven. Yes, we have the Internet, and polo, and a horse that gets painted to promote awareness about a local club or charity every so often so that everyone leaving Wal-mart will remember. And then there are the games. Most people's tourist season is during the summer, but ours is the fall when the Hogs play. (You might not want to order pizza that day.) There are also tons of antique shops, and some beading shops too. Plenty of cool little clothing stores, and even some good used music and video game places. Dude, we finally got a Krispy Kreme within the state-line. (No more morning runs to Tulsa.) And if you think that we still live too far out to get anything cultural, then what do you say we go see a Broadway musical or a ballet performed by the Joffrey ballet company? Or how about an evening with Willie? Shh...we even have poetry too. Not to mention the Statue of Liberty, but I'm not going to tell you where. You'll just have to come here and find it yourself. ;) It wasn't until I did a scavenger hunt a few years ago w/ my fraternity brothers that I knew about some of this. This is the place where I grew up. I started to come down here at the age of 12 during every summer and spring break. I fell in love with the land first, and then the people. In fact, I didn't meet anyone that was originally from Arkansas until I was about nineteen. Everyone had moved here from some big city or another state, but what took me a while to realize was that everyone stayed for the same reason. They fell in love. This was the place where I learned to say "No, sir" and "Yes, ma'am". I tried it a few times back in the city, but I kept getting weird looks from people, as though I were a freak for being polite. Down here it's appreciated, you're respected, and the people will always ask you about your mother. When I was little, about the age of six, I was very good at figuring out a person's nationality just by looking at them. I was over at my grandmother's house one night during her regular poker game. I sat there, played with my toys, walked in and out of the room, but within the first five minutes I already knew who was what. When the adults finally took notice of me I decided to lay it on them. One of the ladies dared me that there was no way I could know what her nationality was, when I said "You're Polish," she just sat there and stared at me all wide-eyed for the next two minutes. Now, I live in a place where the people's ancestry is as muddy as the Mississippi, as windy as the Missouri. There's the regular mixtured of Western European, but then you'll start to hear about their tribal roots and the great nations their great-grandmother's came from and the old homestead their family still owns. I can look at my husband now and say that I have married an American. Everyone that I've met has taken great pride in being a distant relative of the James brothers too, but don't ask how they are related unless you plan on staying for dinner. ;) Arkansas is America's best kept secret, just like the diamonds hidden in its land. We feed the country and the world with our rice and chicken. Some say that the Walton's are taking it over. But Wal-mart used to be just another little store, as well as a few other businesses around Fayetteville, like Tyson and JB Hunt. When I used to live in the city, I felt like just another number. Some mindless drone in the rat race. When I moved here, I actually felt my heart rate slow down, I didn't worry so much about beating everyone else but doing what was best for me. This is a place where you don't feel swamped or beaten down by everyone else's goals and dreams; this is where they help you to achieve them. Fayetteville is my home and I'm glad that I found it. I don't think I could ever live in the city again, visit it maybe, but never live there. I have everything I'll ever need right here.