Conversations with Daggy

Day two of No-Jo-Mo. November has so far been a glorious month weather wise. Today I awoke to temperatures in the 60’s at 4:00 a.m. The wind was blowing the dry leaves around so it sort of sounded like rain…..things are still dry.

The fall always puts a sense of urgency for getting projects finished up. It can be hard to work when needy cats demand loving. Daggy was sprawled out amongst the mums Sunday as I was working. It would have been a perfect photo. However, Daggy will not stay put when I try to snap her picture; she has to come to me for loves. This shot of my “tiny girl” was the best I could do!

I often converse with the cats while working around the house. It just so happened on Sunday I was holding Daggy reciting quotes from my favourite John Water’s films. The dialogue from his movies is priceless. “My Daggy does NOT have roaches in her hair. I’ll have you know she’s a CLEAN TEEN!” was my message to Daggy on the front porch, spoken just as some neighbors were walking by! Their heads turned and I just smiled and waved.

Opps!!! I gave up years ago living anything else but my life. The days of putting on a respectable/normal front are long gone.

Back in 1989 Ron and I toured the South. I picked him up in Columbia, SC and we drove cross country to his hometown of Tyronza, AR. On the way we toured the battlefield in Corinth, MS. I fell in love with that little town. That had to be when the first inkling of moving south developed.

I’ve always been aware of the “culture divide” between the north and south. As Ron and I were driving through the southern countryside I questioned if I would be hated for being from the north if I indeed did move below the Mason Dixon line. In his typical fashion Ron bluntly answered, “No Jimmy, people would just say about you, that’s that nice Yankee boy who moved here from New York.”

My street gets a lot of pedestrian traffic from the university students and neighborhood residents. One of the “pillars” of the neighborhood (I don’t like to use the word “dowager” as that can have a number of negative associations, but this neighbor is in the regal class!) used to pass my home daily to visit her daughter who lived just around the corner from me. We would always exchange pleasantries.

One afternoon she was walking by with her daughter. We all chatted a bit. The conversation went like this:

Pillar to her daughter: My, can you believe the work this nice man has done to this old house… and he’s a YANKEE!

Mortified Daughter: MOTHER!!!

Pillar: Well, he is!!!

Jamie: (Wanting to diffuse a potentially awkward situation) I can’t change where I’m from, but I’m proud to call Tuscaloosa my home now.

That did it and we all parted on good terms. Once again Ron was right.

How I wish he were here with me now and we could share good times again. It has been 18 years since his life was cut short by AIDS. My cats aren’t the only ones I talk to when I’m working around the house…..