SUDDENLY SOUTHERN
It's been quite a while since I've had time to write any postcards. Between a very busy fall, house hunting, a trip to Minnesota for Tammi's wedding, a move, the holidays (which included another trip to Minnesota ), it's been a little crazy!
I have to pause and think back over the last 6 months to "review." I hope my memory doesn't fail me!
A good healthy fear of the heat and humidity that is summer in eastern North Carolina was enough to motivate the kids and dogs and I to head to Minnesota for 6 weeks. It was a great chance to spend relaxed time with friends and family there, and who could complain about spending the summer in a cabin on a lake? We loved every moment!! We're so lucky to have that cabin available to us, thanks to my very gracious mother-in-law. She lets us think she does it all just to have us nearby, but all the same - it's very generous, and we're tremendously grateful to her.
I've noticed that some southerners are under the impression that there is no real heat in Minnesota . They picture cool, if not cold, weather all summer long. Did I mention we left NC to escape heat and humidity? We got to MN just in time for a record heat wave. How does THAT work? But it didn't last forever, and in between hibernating in the air conditioning, we had lots of time to spend on the dock, enjoying the lake and the breeze and the sunshine - and spending as much time as we could with family and friends. The time flew by, especially while we were way up in far northern MN with family for our 11 th annual Griffiths Family Vacation at Lake Vermilion . I think we're up to something like 28 people now, including kids - and this coming summer, we'll have one more new baby there! (NOT mine.)
It was a little unsettling to be in MN without having a house. Without the house, as great as the cabin is, it just didn't feel the same to be there. It was a vacation, not a homecoming. At first I thought that feeling was because of the house being gone, but now that some time has gone by, and we've been back to MN a couple of times... I realize it's more. And, that's a good thing! My little family lives in North Carolina now. We're together, and THAT is home.
That being said, I AM really looking forward to being there again this coming summer! You won't catch this Minnesota girl turning down that chance to spend the summer on the lake! I love the time with my friends and my family. I'm afraid that as my kids get older, they'll be less interested in spending that much time away from their lives in NC, so I fully intend to go while the going is good. But, I'll be just as happy to come back home again in August.
A feeling of Southern hospitality surrounds you most everywhere you go. It does not, however, extend to the parking ordinances in the city of Greenville . No matter how new you are, you'd best have that whole situation figured out if you don't want to return to your parking spot after doing some business downtown and find... nothing.
I had the kids with me, and they were waiting in the salon while I had my hair cut and colored. (yes, I give up and surrender to Miss Clairol's salon sisters - I'm not too proud to admit it.) Anyway, I had the Suburban, and I'd parked in a hurry. I was running behind, surprised? I should have known better when there was a spot nearly right in front of the salon, but I looked and didn't see a yellow curb or a sign that said "no parking" so... I parked!
While I was under the dryer with that plastic cap thing on my head, Emily (my stylist) rushed in to tell me she was SO sorry but I was being towed. What could I do? I jumped up and ran out there - cape on, silly cap on, hair plastered to my head with dye. There stood a man writing out a ticket, and there was my truck being hoisted into the air by a tow truck.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME? WHERE DOES IT SAY NO PARKING!! THE CURB ISN'T EVEN YELLOW!!" The man writing the ticket looked up to tell me that, "Ma'am, there's no sign that allows parking here."What?! I need a sign that says I CAN park? I turned to the man controlling the levers that were pulling my truck into the air. "Can you at least let me MOVE it instead of towing it?" "Sure, lady." Thank you!! "But I have to have my $70 anyway since the call came in - I can't do anything about that."
Worse, he can't take a credit card or a check. Do I have $70 in cash on me? No, I do not. This is a debit card world, buster. I had to borrow $70 in cash from the salon and promise an $80 tip! Meanwhile, my cell phone is ringing in my purse which is back in the salon. Katie answers it. It's John . "Where's your mother?" "She's outside arguing with the guy towing the truck."
I got in the truck and parked 2 blocks away. (Like all downtowns, parking is horrid.) I tried to walk with some dignity, still wearing the cape and the cap, back to the salon, with the $15 ticket in my hand, making sure to NOT walk in front of John 's office which is only a block away.
I had lots of sympathy from the people at the salon. "Oh, honey, we call him the Parking Nazi!! He's just brutal!" It turns out that John works with the Parking Nazi's wife every day. Gee, and I like his wife. Thank goodness there isn't an office Christmas party.
There's nothing like a $145 visit to the salon (do the math) to wreck your day. And did I mention that, since the color was in my hair considerably longer than usual - the color was a little darker. A little reminder every time I looked in the mirror for the next 5 weeks...
I can't help but make a mental comparison between what happened that day and what would probably have happened back in Glencoe. Glencoe is small, and I knew most of the police officers by first name, thanks to Max . (But that's another story.) If I had parked illegally at The Cutting Edge, Kevin would have come inside the salon, asked for my keys, and moved the car to a better spot. I love a small town.
Now, when I get my hair cut, I park at least a block away right in front of the sign that says "FREE TWO HOUR PARKING." And as I walk to the salon, I never fail to notice that now, right there in front of the salon, painted carefully on the street is a big bright yellow line. No parking.
