Now I'm talkin honky-tonkin.

Well, I've been living in Auburn for a little over 6 months now and my social life has come down to honky-tonks with a professor. Wow. The picture above is for the event I am going to tonight. I wish it were bigger, but the deer's trucker hat says: "I'd rather be honky-tonkin...". This leads me to ask, "Would I rather be honky-tonkin?" and "What does that EVEN mean?". Well my friends, I will find out tonight. Some of you may know what it means, but I'm proud to say that I have never been to a honky-tonk. Julie, you probably have. What am I in for?!

Anyway, I can't believe I've lived here six months already. It seems I'm just getting into the swing of things now. I will say it's getting easier having some social contacts that aren't seniors in college that drink me under the table. They're great, but I need to be around people my own age more.

So, I'm kind of feeling like I'm having a cultural paradigm shift by going to a honky-tonk, but I'm going to embrace it and enjoy it! It makes me think of the other shifts I've had. For one, I've realized that the further away you are from the coast, the less people like seafood. I don't understand not liking seafood, but I know there are a lot of things I don't like that people love. For instance, my grandfather struggled through eating a piece of salmon last night and the man couldn't get a bite of pie fast enough into his mouth to take away the "fishy" taste. What fishy taste?! I couldn't believe it. But, in the same vein, I wouldn't eat a piece of coconut pie for fear of the too coconutty taste.

The good thing about living on a farm and in Auburn is that I've realized I am definitely not a country mouse, I'm 100% city mouse. That isn't to say I don't enjoy the country, because I absolutely do. It's just that when I'm in a city, my heart is full. When I was younger I equated city with New York City. When I visited Charleston for the first time I didn't think of it as a city because it wasn't huge and congested and sky-scraping. I realize now that Charleston is very much a city and is a very healthy city because of a lack of those three things. Technically, Auburn's a city for crying out loud! I think we all have our different perception of things because of where we grow up and it's part of life to have those shift and shaken up a bit. I think traveling does this very well, but actually transplanting yourself does too. I know I'll be thankful for this experience of farm life when I'm living in a city somewhere (hopefully soon) down the line. It's almost as if you have to live somewhere you hate, to know what you love.

[i'm not saying i hate auburn, i just hate this TYPE of town. big difference.]

So, I guess this is me saying challenge yourself and move out of your comfort zone. A year ago I wouldn't have seen the point because I said, "I love Charleston and want to raise my family here, why would I ever leave?" (ya know, that family that i've been promised, along with that husband).

Now I love Charleston even more and still would like to raise my imaginary family there with my imaginary husband, but the prospect of living somewhere else for awhile, even after I leave Auburn, isn't so scary anymore.

Anyway, I know people that stay in the same town their whole lives and they're perfectly happy and perfectly healthy, but I think the majority of people need to step out of their boxes for a bit and see what else there is...and then go back home. Wherever that may be. Or never return, that's okay too!

Just out of curiosity and because it's what I've decided to devout my life to...what comes to mind when you think of the word "city"? I'd really like to know and you can email me if you'd rather. Or maybe no one even reads this cussin thing anymore and I'm asking an imaginary audience...by the way, do you see my imaginary husband anywhere?! Even imaginary boyfriend will do. What is he like?

BYE.