From Fish Fries to Biscuits and Gravy

I’ve only been in North Carolina for two weeks, and I am astounded to find it is true…we really are more alike than we are different.

Who would’ve thunk that North Carolina, just like Wisconsin, has launched a new policy for cars used less than 50 miles/day?

And, it seems everyone in North Carolina needs a new bath or shower, just like those Wisconsin TV ads.

Here I thought we were so special.

One good thing: The extended car warranty people have not found me yet. I will lay low for a while.

I enjoy exploring our likes and differences. It made me smile when I went to my first NC car wash: A guy with a floor broom scrubbed my car before I even entered the automatic part. That must have felt so good after a nineteen-hour drive over and through the mountains.

Speaking of mountains, I know many of you have seen those signs that say, “Runaway truck ramp ahead,” followed by a long path veering off the road. That’s when I knew I wasn’t in Wisconsin anymore!

It still seems a little surreal that I have made this big life change.

Did I really spend the month of January packing up all my belongings, making trips to Goodwill, and giving away items I didn’t want to move, like my bed?

Did I really sleep on the sofa bed in my living room for three nights?

This is my view of my daughter for the three days she drove me across country. Somehow, with God’s blessing, we managed to avoid storms swirling around us.

I waited a week for my belongings, but they arrived mostly unscathed.

Did I really spend the month of January carefully packing those boxes and then the month of February unpacking them?

I recently read an article about Bruce Springsteen, in which he talked about his different lives. I can identify! There were my growing up years―that was one life.

Then my young married life, when I finished my education, the Viet Nam war was going on with all its political turmoil, and we lived in four states.

The next twenty years were the home and family life, in a suburb of Milwaukee, raising two children and involved in their activities.

Then came a life of being a single career woman, in my home in Milwaukee. That life lasted thirteen years.

Most recently, I had an eight-year post-retirement life in central Wisconsin, and began my writing endeavors, publishing four books.

Now, a new life is beginning, in North Carolina. It is unexpected and invigorating. I’m into water color now, and I’ve set up my second bedroom with an art space. I look forward to―whatever is on the horizon.

A friend sent me this “newscast” advising Southerners how to drive in the snow:

“If you rarely drive on snow, just pretend you are taking Grandma to church. There’s a platter of biscuits and two gallons of sweet tea in the back seat. She’s wearing a new dress and holding a crock pot full of gravy.”

How fortunate we are to achieve a long life and many different phases! How about you? Do you look back and see many different lives?