A twister, a twister

Every day we drive to work (and home from work) through an area of town that looks unlike any other place in town. There are random pipes sticking out of the ground, big blocks of concrete randomly strewn about the ground, signs without buildings and foundations but no buildings, chaos, abandoned and sparse. We had heard about a Tornado coming through town but to see the remains makes it real. It feels very odd to live in a place where tornadoes or should I say tornadas are a routine part of life. Have you lived in a place like that?

On both sides of the street you can clearly see what the tornado destroyed; elementary schools and churches and Sonic drive thrus, crazy stuff like that. 

The remains of...I'm not sure.

Notice the remains of a building. 

All that remains of the school is the brick sign.

But what we've started to see change on our commute.

Growth! And not just in one place but in several spots along both sides of the road. I think our commute is about to get busier.

You may be right

Have you ever lived overseas? How about worked with a different culture? We aren't overseas right now but today it feels like we are. 

When I was overseas I felt like I would go through phases. At first you have the honeymoon phase- everything is new and wonderful and for us that meant southern drawls and incorrect sentences sounded humorous. 

Then you begin to enter into the second phase where the newness wears off and things just 'are', things aren't exactly normal but neither are they so shockingly strange and new; for us that meant we found jobs we liked and churches we found at home in and began to create routines. 

The third stage begins to dip or turn ,or however you'd like to view it. Things aren't new anymore but they aren't really normal either. You begin to think there might be something wrong with the way things are happening or rather aren't happening. You begin to get frustrated at the small things like the lack of recycling and the big things like the social injustices happening all around you. You begin to challenge your thoughts and actions and suddenly the things you thought were very okay in stage two aren't really okay at all. You begin to tap into some serious frustration. 

I think stage 4 and 5 are better (we'll let you know), sprinkled with acceptance and change and all those good feelings but that is not today. I do, however, feel comforted by the fact that I am able to notice these phases happening  in our home right now, or rather in us as we live out life in this different culture. 

Do you know that Billy Joel Song "You may be right"? I can't say that all of the lyrics apply to our life today but when I got home from work today all that was in my head was the chorus where Billy sings "you may be wrong for all I know but you may be right". So fitting. I'm pretty sure some of what we're seeing isn't right but I may be wrong. 

On a positive note Spring is officially here; the trees are blooming and who can stay frustrated when Spring is here?

Saturdays

Don't you just love Saturdays? Saturdays for us usually mean catching up on all the things we've missed during the week; sleep, time together, cooking, cleaning and running errands. That may not sound terrifically exciting to you but I find my favorite days begin with 'S'. 

An added perk of living in Tuscaloosa (no, they did not have this in Longview) is year round Farmers Markets, today was no exception. Check out our finds. Something about eating produce- good, healthy produce- makes my day so much brighter. 

They were even selling Ruby Red Grapefruit trees today- my favorite! 

Spring

Last Thursday it snowed, sticking to the ground a little. Don't worry classes were cancelled- you can sleep well tonight knowing we were safe, but.....guess what the forecast has in store for THIS Thursday? 77 degrees! I've stopped trying to understand it, instead I've started to enjoy it. I enjoy work and classes being cancelled for no other reason than a cm of snow. I enjoy lazy Sunday walks in 65 degrees; all within the same week. 

We recently discovered a park only minutes from our house. Sunday is a popular day to walk your dog, only we don't have a dog. We've thought about calling out a dog like name to see what happens.

Dead after a roller coaster winter season but if this week is any indication Spring is just around the corner. 

Happy Spring! and Roll Tide.

Not from here moment 272

It was a cold winter's day, what better to have on a day like this than chili and beer bread. This may sound a bit heathenish but I promise I had only the best intentions in mind. (clearing of throat)

 On the way home from church we stopped by Winn Dixie (grocery store) to buy some beer. (again I promise good intentions here) I have a bread recipe that calls for beer, I'm sure the alcohol is baked out leaving a sweet tasting flavor in return- though I can say nothing for the calories. 

We chose the cheapest beer on the shelf, nothing fancy just an essential ingredient. We walked up to the cashier and were told we could not buy alcohol before noon. It was 11:30. 

Enter nervous laughter as we try to explain we aren't from here.....we've never heard of this rule before....somehow I thought they might take pity on us. But no, it is a real rule. Tuscaloosa County only recently (as in a few years ago) made it legal to buy alcohol at all on Sundays. I guess we should be glad we don't live in a dry county otherwise how far would I have to go to enjoy a decent loaf of beer bread?

I'm pretty sure the cashier was not as amused as we were to discover this new tidbit about our new home, little did he know he would be part of our next blog post.

You're not from here are you?