Knowing when you are close to home

Lurker · Post by **Lurker** » Mon Dec 31, 2007 10:22 pm

I had the pleasure of making the 14 hour drive from Florida back home to Ok for the holidays. My wife & the baby were along in the car that meant making the trip at night. This was so the baby could sleep & we wouldnt have to stop every few hours to feed her & change diapers. That gave me A LOT of time alone to think..

I assume that a good portion of you all are or have had to travel back home ae one time or an other so have had similar thoughts.

The first sign was the voice/accent on the radio starting to change, getting closer to a more pleasing Okie twang. This change started in Arkansas but that isnt surprising as East Ok, NE Texas, and W Arkansas & SW Missouri all sound almost alike.

Second those oh sooooo smooth Okie roads, half the highways are so ruff they will shake your eye teeth loose. The baby did like it though.

Third The Red Hawks keeping watch over the fields. Hunting for rabbit, squirrel, & mice I love raptors what can I say This would have started in the Little Rock area butt as it was DARK when I passed through.

Forth The rolling hills of NE Ok, perfect for both ranching & farming..

Fifth A large American flag on top of a bald hill just off Hy 69. (Im 14 min from my moms driveway when I see that! Plus the farmer started flying it the same summer I enlisted so it holds a special place in my heart)

Finally The smell of my moms spiced tea that is just a Christmas one.
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serleran · Post by **serleran** » Mon Dec 31, 2007 10:26 pm

I have never had a "home" where I considered anything other than "I have to get the hell away from here." So, congrats on having those types of memories... for me, I prefer the exploration of other places, new vistas, and the comfort of knowing nothing is ever the same.

Aladar · Post by **Aladar** » Mon Dec 31, 2007 10:47 pm

Lurker,

It's funny you should be going to OK for Christmas also. I just got back from there myself. We (the wife & kids & me) left from Las Cruces, NM for a Christmas trip home to Ardmore, OK. We didn't get in until about 3:00 a.m. It was a long trip! Lots of deer along the highway at night once we got into Texas.
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serleran · Post by **serleran** » Mon Dec 31, 2007 10:57 pm

If it helps any, I spent 8 years in Coweta (26 miles from Tulsa) and my father was born in Tishimingo, and youngest brother born in Wagoner... so, OK is ok.

Coleston the Cavalier · Tue Jan 01, 2008 1:49 am

I know I'm close to home when the land gets flat, corn to the left, soybeans to the right.

The colors for homecoming at the local high school a few years ago were camouflage.

Can't get much more hick than that.
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Tadhg · Post by **Tadhg** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 3:20 am

Haha, it's nice to come back home.

When I moved to Florida to go to college, it was nice to come back to Chicago and when I got on LSD (Aliota Haynes and Jerimiah??) - that's Lake Shore Drive from downtown to the north side it was just fabulous.

Lake Michigan on the right, beautiful light up high rises on the left and through Grant and Lincoln park (watch out for those Pirates) and on to the end at Hollywood.

Further on past my parent's apartment where I was born and past Senn High School where Clayton Moore (The Lone Ranger) attended. A little further north and west back to the old hood.

Ahh, the memories - haven't been that way in a while.

Time to go back.

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CharlieRock · Post by **CharlieRock** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 6:44 am

When it stops looking like countryside, and all of a sudden turns into dingy cityscape. That's when I know I'm close to home. yeggh /shiver
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DangerDwarf · Post by **DangerDwarf** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 6:49 am

I was born in Moline Illinois but pent most of my childhood and early adulthood moving and travelling across the U.S. So, while I never had a permanent home, every summer we would go back to the Quad Cities and spend a couple weeks with the family. I didn't spend most of my life there, but over the years it was where we'd go no matter where we lived at the time. In a "nomadic" life, I suppose that's what home was.

I miss the corn.