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Stumpage Reports
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Wednesday, January 01, 2003 :::
Sometimes I Wanna take to the Road and Plunder: or, Ain't North Carolina Great?
It dawned on me last November that I had lived in North Carolina for 19 years. It's pretty hard to believe when I think about what was going on when I got here and everything that has happened since, almost all of it good.
Usually when I drive to Charlotte, I take the I-40 and I-85 route. When I drive back to Raleigh, I usually exit the interstate around Salisbury and meander home along some combination of NC 52, 29 and 64. I did that today and drove slowly along, letting folks pass me, enjoying the scenery, and just generally enjoying the moment It felt good to be heading home after a satisfying seven day trip.
I love back roads. When No Name Girl and I go on a trip, as soon as we clear Charlotte we find the quickest way to get off the interstate. Today I drove along, enjoying the little stores, shops, and sights that seem unique to the south. A cinderblock building with "Live Bait and Gameroom" crudely painted on the side elicited a grin. I was happy to see the giant pumpkin made from a haystack is still in place on NC 52 just this side of Misenheimer. Just outside of Asheboro, I stopped at the Zoo City Antique Mall (next door to the Mayberry Restaurant and just down the road from America's Roadhouse) and purchased a tacky clear glass vase with obnoxious polka dots for $3.50. Then near Siler City, as I passed Bill's Motor Inn, I was treated to spectacular rainbow that stretched from horizon to horizon.
I've been lucky, both on my antiquing trips with No Name and my Confederate Monument research, I've got to spend some time in lots of little off the beaten path NC towns. Not just driving through them on the way to the beach, but going to these little towns as a destination and visitingthe antique stores, the library, patronizing a local eatery, and of course the statue in front of the courthouse. Places like Enfield, Louisburg, Tarboro, and Weldon. When I graduate in May, I don't know where in the hell I'll end up, but if it ain't North Carolina I'm gonna miss it.
I saw a haircut place in South Carolina called "Curl Up and Dye."
Reading:
Speaks the Nightbird by Robert McCammon (almost done!)
On deck - Shark Trouble by Peter Benchley. I love school but it sure is fun to read whatever the hell I want to.
Also recommended - If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B-Movie Actor by Bruce Campbell.
Quote of the Day:
"Rain drummed harder on the roof. He listened to its muffled roar and thought how simple life had seemed when he was a child and all he had to fear was the pile of pig dung." -- Robert McCammon, Speaks the Nightbird
::: posted by tom at 10:22 PM
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