Country Boy

Now, two flags fly above my land that really sum up how I feel
One is the colors that fly high and proud, the red, the white, the blue
The other one’s got a rattlesnake with a simple statement made
“Don’t Tread On Me” is what is says and I’ll take that to my grave

Because this is me
I’m proud to be American and strong in my beliefs
And I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again
‘Cause I’ve never needed government to hold my hand
And I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again
‘Cause my family’s always fought and died to save this land
And a country boy is all I’ll ever be

~Aaron Lewis feat. George Jones & Charlie Daniels

I actually spent a lot of time in Charlie Daniels park, over in Mt Juliet, TN. I remember climbing the rock wall, and the water park area. There’s lots of sprinklers, with water flowing out of various shapes and kid friendly designs. I brought my kids there, to play, several times. There’s a picnic area. We used to pack a lunch, or buy Subway sandwiches, and sit on picnic tables, in the shaded area. Charlie Daniels died, not too long ago. He was a truly good man.

I haven’t had the littles, the last couple of days. I’m not gonna lie, I’m enjoying this “freedom”. The schedule, with them, will be changing. I’ll have them 2-3 days per week, now. I’m so good with that! Yesterday was busy. My kiddos were home. The school allowed them to leave school early, to watch the eclipse. We stood outside, on the deck, and watched as the sun slowly hid behind our moon. We had a full eclipse, back in (I think) 2017. I stood outside, with my babies, to watch that one, too.

Nature, and space, have such a powerful way of reminding us just how “small” we really are. Not only did we witness an incredible solar eclipse, we had a crazy pop up storm, yesterday evening. Adam and I were out back, just hanging out. The sky began to grow very dark, to our North. You could feel the air changing. The smell of impending rain was obvious. We hurriedly picked up things that needed to be brought inside. As soon as we stepped in the house, the rain came. Then, our phones alerted us to a severe thunderstorm warning in our area. Before we knew it, we had strong winds howling, and carrying the rains sideways. Soon, the hail began to rain down, too. It’s almost beautiful. Despite my fears, it’s hard to ignore the beauty of nature thrusting itself upon us. It’s as if we’re being reminded of our own ignorance. We can’t truly predict our futures. Not with precision, anyway. Or maybe, it’s our insignificance. We are all such a tiny piece of the world, the universe. We’re at the mercy of everything that surrounds us. Things we see, and the things we can’t know are lurking around, waiting to show us who (or what’s) in charge. Readying itself to challenge our naively established belief that we can ever prepare ourselves fully.

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I spent today catching up on laundry and housework. It’s rainy here, again. The weather forecast is showing rain, until Friday. It’s humid, and feels warm. The temperatures are only mid 60’s, but the nights don’t cool down much. So, the house is a little stuffy. I actually cut our AC on, on Easter. It was so hot in here! Since we were having company, and going to be cooking a ham and several other things in the oven, all afternoon, I decided it was necessary to cool our house down a little bit. It remained on for a few more days, and then we got cool. It was cold enough, at night, to require the furnace to be cut on, again. Our thermostat has been set to “off”, for several days now. I do turn the fan onto “circulate”, to help move the air through the house. But, neither our furnace, nor the AC, is running.

While I was cleaning up in the kitchen, the song I used for this title played. I thought of Adam. I remembered the way my teenage brain used to completely ignore boys like him. He was one of the guys who never cared to keep up with current trends, or bothered to wear clean boots. His hands were stained in grease, from whatever vehicle he’d been working on. He had a rifle hanging in the back window of his extended cab pickup truck. He just was not “my type”. That is, until he was. Adam won me over. His dirty boots remind me how hard he’s been working. His calloused hands are the reason my own hands are soft and pretty. He puts his family first, always. He’s never selfish. In fact, the only reason he does have some good boots, or new sneakers and joggers for working out, is because I went out and got them for him. He truly doesn’t give a damn about the way he looks, or what he’s wearing, so long as his wife and kids are happy with what we’ve got. Ya know, a very wealthy man could hand his wife a million bucks, and people would be jealous. They’d praise his generosity. If that money is simply a fraction of what he has, it’s nothing to him. Having a man who works as hard as Adam does, and then gives every single dime of his earnings to his family…that means more to me. He sacrifices himself daily, for me. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, I am so blessed.