Disclaimer: Before anyone gets upset about fauxtographers taking money away from professional photographers I want to say that 1. I was not paid, I did this as a favor to a wonderful couple who were doing a real budget wedding so 2. I actually probably prevented a fauxtographer getting the job since it was unlikely they would have been able to hire a true professional.
I got out of work early on a Thursday and we headed out immediately. I drove straight through the night. Not the most comfortable of things to do, but we couldn't afford a hotel and I wanted less traffic. So instead of rolling into town in the evening like we usually do, we got in at about 5 in the morning. And slept.
I didn't use my camera much while I was home other than at the wedding. But I think my phone captured the essence of my trip fairly well.
First meal in Arkansas. Super Sonic Chili Cheese Tots with jalapeños and a Route 44 orange-cherry-pineapple Sprite. Looks gross but tastes like heaven and heartburn.
I stayed with my friend Jamie, who has a sweet polydactyl cat named Hemingway. She likes to brawl.
Jamie's mom had found her Caboodle while cleaning and brought it over, but Jamie hadn't opened it yet. It turned out to be a late 80s/early 90s time capsule.
Drove out to see my Granny and my cousins. Don't worry, Maya took these photos and I took the wheel. I never realized just how flat it is on the Delta until I moved somewhere that is embraced by bluffs.
My favorite kind of climbing tree.
My little man AJ with his old fashioned face. His first name is Arvel, after my dear sweet Pawpaw.
Road trip flotsam.
This beats my brother in law's Weezer cake for Best Groom's Cake Ever. Bonus: it was marble cake.
Grabbing a beer and catching up with friends after the wedding.
The day we left, I roamed around my old neighborhood for awhile. It was the least changed of all the places I saw in town. I was amazed at how much a place can change in only two years. There were parts of town that were so different that I became disoriented, so the old neighborhood was comforting.
This house was next door to our old house that burned down. The landscaping and the balcony are new.
The library, less than a block away from my old house. So many days spent in its quiet, old book smelling, air conditioned interior.
This house occupied a lot of my childhood imagination. I was afraid to walk past it after dark.
Sometimes you don't need a lot of words.
Ditto. And away we went.
This was the first time I went home that it didn't really feel like home. At least the place didn't. Memories of certain places felt like home. Friends and family felt like home. A big glass of sweet tea felt like home. But I felt lost and oppressed under that big Delta sky, with nothing to shield me from the elements.
No comments:
Post a Comment