Friday, September 26, 2008

My Radio's Pickin' Up FM-100...

.....I hear Memphis calling me home. This summer I went home for my dad's memorial service and realized I haven't blogged about it. Still have some unresolved issues I guess, but today I was going through some pictures on the computer and thought I'd share:


I love this bridge. There are probably more beautiful bridges in this world but the Memphis/Arkansas bridge is home.


This is a view of the Mud Island Amphitheater. I spent a lot of time here going to concerts and basically hanging out. There was the Riverboat Museum, Hal Holbrook as Mark Twain, not in person, but still great, the monorail was in The Firm with Tom Cruise as was the Museum. The Amphitheater is the best place to see a concert. I've seen Jackson Browne there two times. It was like he was singing in my living room. Just a great place to see a show.



Here's the riverboat basin, they do sunset dinners and cruises.
Here's my nephew with a statue of Elvis.



Gift shop at the Peabody. We also saw the man from the show Little People, Big World but I didn't know if I could legally post the picture I took since I was kind of the paparazzi, meaning I didn't ask permission, just snapped the pic.




The view from the roof of the Peabody. Lots of Happy Hours spent here back in the day.





The infamous Peabody ducks. I had camera issues.








My niece and nephew playing piano in the ballroom. I suspect we probably shouldn't have been there. But hey whatever we do what we want.






As further proof, my nephew on one the dog statues in the lobby.








My brother's dog Sophie. I love her and want her to come live with us.










When I went home I stayed in my niece's bedroom which used to be my bedroom(my brother bought my mother's house). Here's some early morning knitting. It's supposed to eventually be a laptop bag from Alterknits.









This is a view from the bedroom similar to what it was when it was my bedroom only there should be horses in the pasture and a barbed wire fence covered in honeysuckle.











This is my niece's exact view. I hate progress and development except for things like iPods, laptops, and Kindles.













This is the road I walked down every morning to catch the bus for school. It hasn't changed much.
I spent most of my life plotting my escape from this place. I wanted to move to LA or Florida or even Nashville, if I couldn't be a screenwriter, or live on the beach and write Harlequin romances, I could write country songs. 20+ years later I'm in Florida. I love it here, but I often wonder if it will ever be home, or will I always be that Tennessee girl? Seeing my family everyday, walking across the road to see my Aunt and Uncle in the mornings, eat cookies for breakfast, read the paper outside, see faces of neighbors I've known all my life, catch up on the lives of girls who are now women, who also moved away, who manage to wander back home a little more often than myself.
I hate going home because I'm reminded of what I miss the most. The family connection, the history. Being with people who know your history, people that when you see them the conversation just picks up where you left off five years ago, there's no awkwardness, it's just HOME.











4 comments:

Unknown said...

I live in Memphis - and I love all those places you showed in your photos.

But only in Memphis would you name a place "Mud Island" and expect it to attract visitors.

Anonymous said...

I loved going along on your trip along memory lane. Loved the pics!! I can relate to the feeling of 'will this ever be home?'. The kids & I have decided that we have two lives existing in parallel universes. One life lives here and when we get to the US, we pick up on our life back home. It's bittersweet, though, to know that as much as my heart is with my family & friends in the US, life does go by without me there and I'm missing so much.

Donna said...

Thanks for taking me down memory lane. You remind me of me when I think of home and how you never realize what you have when you're young. We have memories and know that we are making memories for our children. My home when I was young has been changed into a pizza restaurant and I've been told that the neighborhood is not the same but really what is. Glad you could go back, and thank for sharing your home.

Jon Scott said...

Loved your blog.
Have you heard us. Talk about Memory lane!

http://www.AllMemphisMusic.com

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