Friday Fun
A little shout-out to the place I call home…
A young writer wanted to write a book about churches around the country. He decided to start with the most-populated states in the U.S., and work his way down from there.
At a very large church in California, he began taking photographs and making notes. He spotted a golden telephone on the vestibule wall and was intrigued with a sign that read:
“Calls: $10 ,000 a minute.”
Seeking out the pastor, he asked about the phone and the sign. The pastor answered that this golden phone was, in fact, a direct line to heaven and if he paid the price he could talk directly to God.
The man thanked the pastor and continued on his way. He visited churches in Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois, working his way through the list of states. Everywhere he went, he found churches with the same golden phones, with the same sign, and the same answer from each pastor.
In the 22nd state he visited, he saw the usual golden telephone. But this time, the sign read: “Calls: 35 cents.”
Fascinated, he asked to talk to the pastor. “Reverend, I’ve been in churches all across the country and everywhere I went, I’ve found this golden telephone and been told it’s a direct line to heaven and that I could talk to God, but in the other churches the cost was $10,000 a minute. Your sign reads only 35 cents a call. Why?”
The pastor, smiling broadly, replied, “Son, look around. You’re in Colorado now… God’s Country. It’s a local call.”
* * *
So… tell me something about the place where YOU live.
Morning hike - Palmer Lake, Colorado
Jabbertype…
Wonderful blog post, saw on…
The title of your blog: (Friday Fun | Rachelle Gardner) seemed intresting so thats how I ended up here!
Buffalo milk ads roam too free…
NEWSPAPER EDITION EXAGGERATED claims in ads about buffalo milk from the Huangshi Dairy are the target of an investigation by local industrial and commercial authorities. The ads, frequently seen in elevators of residential buildings, …..
I live in the southern heart of the “Great Southland of the Holy Spirit”. So you could say the Spirit is here if God’s in Colorado 😉 “Here” is the place you see on postcards where the sky is the colour of violets in mid-summer, the sand is as white and pure as a batch of plain flour shortbread, and the ocean in the middle is as clear and inviting as tuquoise-coloured glass.
In winter you can’t see where the sky and sea meet because they’re the same shade of grey, but usually there’s a boat out there somewhere to help find the line. Today is one of those days but with rain, so my garden looks like a Monet thanks to the window…
http://christianfletcher.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/rocky-point.jpg
Ahhh, the place I call home.
That is the story of me. In the deepest part of my soul.
More than a simple comment here .. the place I call home.
Home indeed.
Coming soon, to a bookstore near you.
When I lived in the States I regarded living on the shores or Lake Winnipesaukee near Center Harbour as my ‘heaven on earth’. These days I live in a different heaven: Waiheke Island in New Zealand. But I know what you all mean about the beauty in Colorado, too.
Little town, lots of snow. Good hay crop. Sweet and hokey. The place and the people.
Hands sticky from the juice of the sweet peaches I buy at the farmers market and devour daily, fireflies adding visual pizazz to the songs of the cicadas in the evenings, and sultry afternoons that offer the perfect excuse for my afternoon naps. Suburban Atlanta in the summertime, big city to the south, lakes and mountains to the north.
I live in NW Central Iowa. It’s not that different from NW Iowa, where I grew up, but it’s got its differences. The dialect here is different, the foods are somewhat different (some in name, some in taste). But in the summer, when you get off the beaten path, it’s BEAUTIFUL! The trees are so green and there are so many of them, the fields even look beautiful =). I might want to live somewhere else, but sometimes, I remember how beautiful Iowa truly is.
Walking slowly between the tall trees of Worcester’s Perry Wood it is hard to imagine the violence that took place where you now tread. A gentle summer’s breeze dances around you, rustling the thick canopy of leaves providing a comfortable shade from the midday sun.
But you didn’t come here for the Wood’s role in the Battle of Worcester – the climatic battle of the English Civil War.
No.
You followed this local guide for another reason – one so sinister that you almost laugh at the very thought of it.
And yet, as you press deeper, you can’t help but feel a haunting presence that makes the hairs stand on the back of your neck.
You put it down to the legend, the one you read online and came here to put a face to.
“This is it,” The guide stops in a small clearing, offering a view into the city below, “This is the place where, in the moment of the Battle where it looked like he might lose, Oliver Cromwell made his pact with the Devil himself.”
You look around incredulous. It hardly looks like the kind of place the Devil would visit. There isn’t even so much as a warped tree, like you always see in the movies.
“How do you know he did that?” You ask.
The guide, an old man you met in the local library earlier that day, meets your gaze. There is a knowing look in his eye.
“Because he asked for Seven years.” The guide answers as if it is the simplest question in the world.
“So?”
The Guide leans closer and lowers his voice, “He died seven years to the day this battle was won.”
I love that, Rachelle. I’m from where the Midwest meets Appalachia. We don’t have any golden telephones, but I’m sure we could rig up some tin cans and a string. 😉
Have a great weekend!
As a twist to your funny story Rachelle, let me tell you about a country where I used to live. It is a country where people many years ago could meet God (in his human form) in person with no need for phone. I was born 6 miles from where God came to earth in a human form. Have a wonderful weekend.
I live in “Shepherd of the Hills” country, Rachelle. In the Ozarks, everyone is your neighbor and “howdy” is the order of the day. In my little neck of the woods, folks still wave and call you “friend” like it’s your first name. I often refer to the Ozarks as God’s Country because I believe He started with us, saw that all was good, and then left His thumbprint on everything else! 🙂
The fog hangs heavy in the hollers, completely hiding the mountains. An outsider would think it’s gloomy and gray in the mountains of Harlan, Kentucky. The fog intensifies the music of nature as we are surrounded by a symphony of birds, bugs, and unidentified echoes. Hidden springs break free from their underground prisons and dance down the sides of the hollers, filling the woods with laughter. Looking up into the fog, we know the sun is up there somewhere just beyond our grasp, burning it off little by little. Before too long it becomes mere wisps of white and then disappears completely, revealing a bowl of lush old growth forest, crowned by bright sunshine. Oh, nothing compares to my mountain home that still lives in my heart. This is where my faith was born.
I live in NE and we have some of the best kept secrets in the nation! Everybody thinks that NE is just what you see on I80. LOL! Gotcha fooled! See, we don’t want to live in a resort, or someplace that would attract too many people.
And I love the story. Everyone should be blessed to live where they love.
By the way, we love CO, too!
Love the story! When my family lived in Colorado, though, my dad used to say we got the first $10,000 in salary via the scenery. 😉
Only place I can think of that comes close is California. But why doesn’t anyone call this God’s country? Heheh.
All I have to say is today’s current temp – 68 and the sun has just begun burning away the off shore overcast.
Becky
I’m in the Chicago area now, but I grew up on a farm in SW Wisconsin, far, far, far from cities and towns. Sometimes there at night, you can go outside when the sky is perfectly black and the stars look so sharp they feel like they’re reaching down to touch you, and you can’t hear any sound at all. Nothing. No traffic, no animals. Not even any insects chirping.
It’s a lovely quiet place, and it’s always my favorite after the hay has been harvested hay or the grass has been cut because of the sweet perfume that hangs in the warm summer air on those days. I hope heaven smells like that.
I’m partial to the sweet Virginia breeze. I live outside Richmond, in the suburbs. We live on a lake, and the kids loves swimming, fishing and boating regularly. It’s a good life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8ujWNf1PcU
I live in the heart of God’s country. Salida, CO 🙂 Basically, the dead center of the state with a river flowing through a valley that ranges from 7000 feet to 14000 feet. 🙂
Phone calls to God? Phones in a church?! What are you talking about?
Here in Amish country (Lancaster, PA) we don’t use phones (actually God frowns on phones unless they are in a little shack out in the field) We just talk directly to God (in German, of course) as we are pick corn and milk the cows. And it doesn’t cost us anything … which clearly shows that this is God’s country.
If Colorado is God’s country, then Alaska is where He vacations! 🙂
I live in southcentral Alaska and it is GORGEOUS here today. I see the Chugach and Talkeetna ranges from my front windows; we fish for several kinds of salmon, go mountain hiking equipped with bear spray, hunt moose/caribou and ski all winter. We’re also slightly hockey obsessed.
That sounds amazing!
Our dream is to live in Colorado! But we currently reside in the fifth most depressing city to live in, how sad right? It is a very old city in New York and so much of it is rundown. Perhaps we will be in Colorado Springs in a few years so my husband can attend Fuller Theological Seminary….fingers crossed because Colorado IS God’s country!! 🙂 So beautiful.
Florida has always been my home, and NW Florida populates my novels. Today I live on Florida’s East Coast in Neptune Beach, FL. I love it here though, of course, it isn’t home. That will always be Port St. Joe where I grew up. Isn’t home always where we spend our youth?
Neptune Beach has the advantage of a good climate. We seem to miss bad storms (knock on wood) that churn north of us or veer off into the Atlantic Ocean. Best of all, ours is a small community where we are on a first name basis with the woman who checks us out at the grocery, the natives at the local coffee shop, the man who bakes his own flat bread and pizza, and the couple who run our wonderful independent bookstore. I can barter my old newspapers for wild bird food (used) at a local pet store, gather shells at the beach, or dine at any number of fabulous restaurants. All this, and we are near the metropolitan area of Jacksonville proper. We’re also a leisurely ride South to small communities or large cities. We have our cake and can eat it too.
I live in Upstate, NY, half way in between Syracuse and Buffalo. Bills land, with much crying during football season. We get our share of cold snowy months. We have the Finger lakes for tourism and wine tasters, along with museums like The George Eastman House & Susan B. Anthony. Taxes are high, but it’s home.
I live in NE North Carolina home of the Great Dismal Swamp. When I first moved here I found it amusing that the Rest Area off the highway was named the Great Dismal Swamp Welcoming Center. Nothing quite says come and make yourself at home like the words dismal and swamp. Other than that, it’s a beautiful place to live!
I lived in KC, Kansas for a year and I went to college in VA, but the rest of my life has been in Colorado. I feel blessed to have been born here.
There are many gorgeous places in this country, but Colorado is in my blood and bones.
Here’s another European. I’m from Croatia. Probably the first thing people think of is the beautiful coast, the Adria sea the color of the sky…but I’m not that lucky. I live in a small rural town in the East of the country. My house is surrounded by crop fields, and less than a mile away is a forest with a shortcut to the river. Could be the epitome of just any small rural town anywhere in the world. When I think home, this is what I imagine.; a place where I don’t have to fear that someone will steal my car or that my child would be in danger walking down the streets alone, or if something happens, there would always be someone to lend a hand.
Beautiful story, Rachel!
I live in Arizona–land of the world’s most beautiful sunsets, serene deserts, majestic mountains and temperatures so hot you can fry bacon on the hood of your car. And don’t forget those massive walls of dust called haboos.
The valleys of the Appalachians wrap around me, and the sound of crickets and cicadas sing me to sleep. My home is Alabama, with sweet memories, and it’s not just because of the sweetened iced tea! 🙂
Right now, I live in Wisconsin, near an enormous, ice-blue lake, and for most of the year, it is quite cold. Summers are lovely here, and in winter, dreams of sunshine and picturesque places keep me warm.
I’ve heard of the beauty of Colorado… have yet to witness it with my own eyes.
I have two homes: Denver, Colorado where I am lucky enough to live. I’ve lived here for almost 3 years and I love it. That’s saying a lot for a Southern girl like me, because my other home is where I grew up: Charleston, South Carolina. Basically the coolest city ever in the whole history of ever.
I live in Virginia, were the summers are very hot. It’s nice out here especially when you visit Williamsburg, Virginia. I’m a New Yorker at heart but my love for Seattle, Washington is ever growing. I can’t not express how much I enjoyed Washington. As a child my father used to take me hiking by La Push. I think then is when I decided that someday I would go back to stay. Since I was injured on the job I have a better chance now for a job transfer. Lately, I’ve been very tempted to jump in my car and just drive. The rainy weather…I love! To see the sun shine through the trees after the rain is gorgeous.
Sugar Hollow (Fairview: Asheville, NC) is a neighborhood as opposed to a place where a bunch of folks live close together.
if you sneeze, the lady three door down starts making chicken soup.
and .. we have forty mile wide sunsets!
Currently, I reside on an island in the Caribbean. No doubt abut it; it is paradise. What a long strange trip it has been to get here.
Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois
Spent 18years in Summit County, Colorado.
Truly God’s Country especially back then.
17 years on the backside of the Tetons in Idaho.
Throw in two years on the Gulf Coast of Florida somewhere in there.
All great.
All a part of me.
Nothing quite like living on an island surrounded by “the blue”.
“I live in a campground.” When I tell people that I always get strange looks until I explain that we’re the caretakers here and we get to live in a house on the property. Having 200+ acres in our backyard makes this a great place to raise our three kids. In fact I’m writing this comment from our floating boardwalk while my oldest two sword fight with bull rushes.
Blessings from BearCountry!
I live in Las Vegas. Sigh….. BUT we almost bought a home in Monument right off of the trail. It is such a beautiful area, we considered buying a retirement home there.
From May to October, it averages 82 degrees during the day. In the same day I could, if I chose, both swim in the ocean and ski the slopes. The sun shines over 300 days a year. It breaches 90 degrees less than 14 days a year. It drops below 30 degrees less than 10 days a year. It is so lovely, in fact, that the original name of my locale was “The Valley of Heart’s Delight.”
And we pay about $400/sq foot to enjoy this paradise.
Can you guess where I live?
“There’s more than corn in Indiana”
I live a stones throw away from downtown Chicago, and a short ride to some of the most beautiful National Lakeshore on Lake Michigan – The Indiana Dunes.
If you go south 15 minutes on I-65, you’re in the corn.
Oklahoma – yes, “where the wind comes sweeping down the plains.”
Here we’re all about God, family, Oklahoma Sooner football and Thunder basketball. (I suppose some people are for Oklahoma State Cowboy’s football instead of OU, but I don’t converse with those types)
There’s a church on every corner and a Sonic on every other. The cost of living is amazing here so a family can actually afford to live and eat in the same month and our school systems are wonderful.
Although some people think we still live in tee-pees, we Okies really like it here. I wouldn’t live anywhere else…. although I would take a vacation home in Aruba.
Hi Rachelle,
I know what you mean about God’s country and Colorado. The first time I crossed the border into Colorado from New Mexico was during a huge blizzard in late 1997. They closed the Raton Pass behind us and we landed in Manitou Springs where we were stuck for a couple of days.
I was so charmed by the little alpine village at the foot of Pikes Peak covered in snow, that I declared, “I’m going to live here.” And I did. I moved there in January of 1998, stayed for three years and met my husband at The Business of Art of Center where we were both taking a writing workshop.
If I hadn’t visited on that exact day in ’97, I would not have seen the town covered in snow, I would not have decided to move there, and therefore I would not have met my husband, whom I have been married to for eleven years. Every time we return, which we do often because my husband’s parents live in the Springs, we go to Manitou and I look at my daughter and marvel that I had the good sense to listen to my instincts.
[This is not about where I live now, which is at the top of the Willamette Valley in Oregon, but I’ll save that story for another time.]
Outside my window, palm fronds sway. A red hibiscus blossom falls with the gentle sweep of the breeze.
Inside, I face a computer document where a young woman faces the grim reality that her mother may have stopped loving her.
Down the hall, my husband calls out, “Where is my key?”
My red poodle barks when he hears the whine of a passing dog.
That is where I live.
That’s it. I’m moving to Colorado.
I’ve been a northern(real northern–not the Bay Area) California girl all my life (and feel blessed to experience every season and some of the best geography the state has to offer), but have always felt the call to CO.
Now to get there…
A western edge of the prairies born girl, shouldered to the foothills and mountains, moved all the way to the swampy, bedrock and peaty shallow ditch of the eastern edge of the prairies. Went from high plains cowboy country to edge of an ancient lake swamp, bush and because we have this piece of blessed land with our animals and good water it is home.
Great story, Rachelle! And Colorado sounds and looks very beautiful! Here in Minnesota, God is into text messages (Bible verses,of course)- no charge on His phone plan, or yours, either ; )
I grew up in Seattle in the era I refer to as ‘Before Starbucks’ but have lived in the countryside of MN for almost 30 years. Our house is in a beautiful woods where I can step into a cathedral of trees at any time. I miss the vistas of the mountains and water in Seattle, but here I have the presence of nature at my fingertips, and I am thankful.
When God moved me here to the middle of the Canadian prairies I believe He wanted me to catch a glimpse of heaven.
For most of my life, I wanted to live by the sea, but the peace and beauty I find here in Manitoba asounds me.
I agree with you, Rachelle. Colorado is where my heart is. I was born and raised a Nebraska girl so I will always be Husker. I’ve been in Kansas for 13 years now and it still doesn’t seem like home. However, there is something to say about the wide open spaces and watching a storm roll in on the horizon, but I will take a mountain peak and DRY air any day.
Some of my favorite places are in Colorado: Aspen, Ouray, Durango, Idaho Springs. I could go on and on. I have been lobbying for a move to CO since I got married. Every time we visit, my husband knows the campaign is coming. 🙂
Lots of seagulls and a stiff easterly wind, donuts fried while you wait and Mr. Whippy ice cream. I live on the north coast of Kent, in south-eastern England. It’s semi-rural, so there are excellent cinemas and supermarkets, but open fields and hidden scraps of woods. And you can walk right round the cliffs from near my parents’ house to the nearest town’s main harbour at low tide.
First, let me say that my mother (who grew up in colorado Springs) will love this when I show it to her.
I currently live in Midland, Texas. never raise your children here unless you can send them to private school. All four public schools failed their state accredidation, but since “they sure can throw a football,” and this is Texas, no one really cares. It’s depressing really. I am simply ticking off the days until I can move just about anywhere else, preferably back to Dallas, where education matters.
I’m a New Yorker who came to Colorado by way of Maine, Florida, Pennsylvania, Texas, and New Jersey. We’ve been here 17 years and love it. It’s my favorite place to live.
Hamburg, Germany, but my heart is ever in NYC, and a good part of it in the town where my publisher is.
I love Colorado. I have been there this summer.
I don’t love Illinois that much.
Michigan, where if you don’t like the weather wait five minutes or drive five miles.
Where Detroit is like the dot on an otherwise pristine piece of paper, a distraction or an accent, depending on your point of view.
Where black bears, whitetail deer, coyotes, wolves, raccoon and a myriad of other wildlife occupy the massive tracts of state parkland that varies from the peaks of the Porcupine Mountains to the prairies that border Ohio and Indiana.
Where sports-fishers ply the myriad of lakes, Great and inland, all year around for fish of unequaled quality.
Michigan is the home of world class universities, leading edge research and some of the most productive farmland in the country. There’s a good chance Michigan is not what you think you know – and much more than you ever expected!
Come, taste and see that Michigan is good! 😀
Colorado is breathtaking! But being a Texas girl, I have to agree to disagree that it’s better than home in the deep south. 🙂
Thanks for the cute story and for the hiking picture from my town~ hooray for Palmer Lake!
It’s 6 a.m., my hubby and I jump in the car.
By 6:10 we can see the ocean, the waves crashing in along the sandy shore.
Surfers are running, the waves beckoning them, their boards tucked tightly under their arms. Ladies are walking with hot starbucks cups held out a safe distance in front of them.
Dogs pulling on their leashes are sniffing yesterday’s news, as we pause on the edge of the tracks and watch a beautiful blue train go racing by, its horn echoing in the early morning’s misty air.
We park and walk on the sand that we share with sandpipers and seagulls as a flock of enormous pelicans fly in formation overhead, sometimes as many as 20 at a time.
I reach for my hubby’s hand, feels the cool breeze on my face and breathe in the fresh, moist, salty air. I smile and thank the Lord for the blessings of San Diego, California.
oops… “feel” (not feels) sorry for the typo.
Born and raised in Salina, Kan., nearly smack-dab in the middle of the U.S.
Sure,it may be mostly flat, but with sunflower fields and golden wheat fields, gorgeous sunrises and star-filled skies, Kansas holds a unique beauty all it’s own. We have rolling hills here that in the spring can be covered with lush greens or dainty wildflowers. It’s a place where it can be 65 or 70 degrees on a random day in December (like my wedding day!) or the land can be covered in 6 inches of snow in mid-April. We get tornadoes, wind, 110 degree days with 80%humidity and hailstones the size of grapefruit. Our weather motto is “if you don’t like the weather, just wait 30 minutes!”
That was funny! The place I live has been called Paradise and Another World – if you like pink sand, turquoise seas, a thermostat that stays at around 85 in the summer and 70 in winter, with blue sky pretty much year ’round, barring the occasional hurricane, you’ll agree that Bermuda is a pretty nice place to live. Hubby’s idea of God’s country however is Northern Ontario. Lakes, pine trees and the occasional bear. I think he’d probably enjoy Colorado. I’ve only ever been there in winter, so I’d like to experience the state by actually walking outside…
St. Cloud, Florida — where the sun shines even when it’s raining!
I come from the land of Cheese. (Which is probably why my humor is so cheesy). Wisconsin has treated me well my entire life. Although, since I’m a huge traveler, I get my fair share of other states and countries, so Wisconsin always seems like a warm embrace when I come home. 🙂
Oh all you Pacific Northwest and Colorado people are killing me, LOL
“Thou shall not covet, Nance, thou shall not covet.”
Houston, Texas. Temperatures are running over a hundred degree everyday, all our trees are dying because of the drought, but hey, we’ve got the best cancer center in the world, and by gosh, we’re Texans! So I still love it. =)
Well, it’s August in Florida, where I live, so I’d say that at the moment we’re about as far from God’s country here as you can get. 🙂
Chagrin Falls, Ohio is a beautiful little village about 30 minutes east of Cleveland. Basically, it’s Mayberry North. And yes, I do know the police chief, but his name is not “Andy.” The main street is named “Main Street.” There is a triangle in the middle of town with a gazebo. There is a river which runs through town, with a waterfall next to the Popcorn Shop (http://www.chagrinfallspopcorn.com/). We walk everywhere: the grocery, the library, the pizza place, the park. My neighbor’s sixth grader walks to school.
We live at the top of a big hill that is the site of a yearly tradition. Every year around Halloween, pumpkins start “disappearing.” Then, on an appointed night the high school seniors gather at the top, smash the pumpkins on the street, and go sliding.
That’s where I live.
Northwest Arkansas, 3 miles from Missouri and 20 miles from Oklahoma. Until the early 1990s it was a place with no airport and no highways. Yet, within 20 miles of where I’m sitting at my office are the corporate headquarters of the world’s largest retailer (Wal-Mart), the world’s largest trucking company (J.B.Hunt), and the world’s largest food processor (Tysons).
It really is a beautiful area, though the effects of rapid urbanization are being felt.
We live near Asheville, NC. I’m a mountain girl–so long as the mountains are Appalachian. Our house backs up to a creek and we get to watch a parade of black bears through the woods behind the house most days (we LIKE this). Not to mention racoons, opossums, turkeys and other critters. If I can’t be on the family farm in WV, then THIS is the place!
Hey, I’m headed there today! My sister and her family live in Fort Collins. We drove through on our way to Ohio, and now we’re on our way back.
I noticed at the state line between Wyoming and Colorado—the scenery turns beautiful! It’s like they found the spot dividing ugly and pretty and said “Let’s put the border here!” (Not that Wyoming doesn’t have it’s own beautiful places.)
Rachelle,
I loved your story but unfortunately it was just a story because God’s country is located in Georgia. 🙂
I am from Vidalia, GA. We have amazing weather here – hot or hotter, lovely huge hills of fire ants, sweet onions and sweet tea. We think that all y’all talk really funny and can’t give directions.
Here’s an example of driving directions that you could expect to get from any local southern person….
Foreigner (otherwise known as Yankee), “Can you tell me how to get to the post office?”
Local (known as Aunt to everyone regardless of a blood relation), “Sure, sugar. You go to where the IGA used to be…”
At this point the Yankee will interrupt and say, “Sorry, I am new to the area. Is the IGA sign still there? What’s an IGA?”
[Side note: We don’t need to be told you’re not from here because we know it. You don’t talk right.]
Aunt, “Honey, the IGA sign is long gone. It’s hasn’t been around for a good 15 years. Mr. Mack’s hardware store is located there now. Don’t y’all have IGA where you come from?”
Foreigner, “So, I am to look a hardware store called Mr. Mack?”
Local, “Why would you do that? That’s not the store’s name.”
Yankee (getting a bit frustrated), “Can you tell me the street’s name?”
Aunt, “I don’t rightly know the name of the street but you go up this road a piece. Look for the big ole white house with a large magnolia in the yard located on the corner. It’s a right pretty Bed and Breakfast. The fire chief and his wife run the place.”
Yankee, “Turn there?”
Aunt, “No… pass it. Turn two roads up – next to where IGA used to be….”
Love the joke…
Nashville (well, I live south of it, but close enough!) Country music and all that twang:-) LOVE IT! Nashville and it’s surrounding area is fun because it’s a really GOOD possibility you’ll see someone “famous.” Alan Jackson shares an eye dr with me (he walked in one day while I was waiting for an appointment.) You can see them at restuarants, starbucks or anywhere. For locals, where you probably go, “OHMAGOSH THERE IS KEITH AND NICOLE” you know that you’d like like an idiot if you gushed so you smile and walk by just like they were everyone else.
Because… they are everyone else, when it comes down to it!
I’ve from NASHVILLE too and Krista is right. We can tell locals from tourists by who gushes over the many, many stars who live here.
Big surprise about Nashville is it’s not just about country music. We have a world class symphony in a $125m symphony hall, a ballet company, and a performing arts center that includes touring productions from top Broadway shows. We have a professional football team (sort-of LOL) and we even have a professional hockey team!
There are excellent educational institutions like Vanderbilt and Belmont Universities. In fact, because of the emphasis on education, the city is known as “the Athens of the South.” There is an exact replica of the Parthenon (Athens, Greece) in one of our urban parks. It is beautiful.
We do have our country music venues including Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, voted the #1 honky tonk in the world. There’s also the world famous Grand Ole Opry, the Ryman Auditorium and the fabulous Country Music Museum which includes more than just country music.
Nashville is a pretty city, located on the winding Cumberland River with rolling hills in the background. I used to work in the tallest building in town–the Batman building–at only 26 floors.
People here are friendly and welcoming and the only folks you’ll see decked out in hats and boots are tourists and country artists about to perform. Usually, the stars wear jeans and baseball caps and act like normal (what’s that?) people.
As popular as music is, it’s only the third largest industry in the area falling behind publishing and medical.
Nashville is one of the best kept secrets in the country and no, I don’t work for the chamber of commerce. We love our tourists, so ya’ll come on down.
Jersey shore–‘nough said–and a cute little place in the PA mountains; sometimes I can’t decide which I like more. Then there’s something to be said about the beauty of New Hampshire, especially the White Mountains…
Heck: isn’t all this grandeur God’s country?
I’ve lived in Oklahoma for fifteen years and I love it here. But when I hear the word “home,” I will always think of my beautiful little town of Londonderry, New Hampshire. It isbeautiful in every season. And there are 4 distinct seasons in New Hampshire, unlike Oklahoma. Here we have two: lukewarm and waaaayyy too hot. In New Hampshire, there are 4 seasons: leaf-peeper, snow, mud and construction! Aah, I miss it.
Cute post!
My backyard is a national forest and my beach is a Great Lake. We’re surrounded by God’s artistry on a daily basis. The only I don’t care for are the bitter cold winters. ~shiver~
My area boasts of being a pivotal player in the oil industry. And I’m just over the state border from the birthplace of Lucille Ball.
Gooooorrrrrrrgeous!
Home is the place I see when I close my eyes and dream. I grew up in the midwest but have hung my hat in Florida for four decades. I still feel like a tourist. I hear that voice inside me calling me to back to the midwest.
Sunny South Florida where the ocean and the sunsets take your breath away! The joy of seeing the animal life in the Everglades, and palm trees blowing in the wind.
The best part of where I live, no snow. When the rest of the country is buried in snow we are enjoying our 70 degree weather.
Local call, love it! It looks beautiful where you are. Here in Southern Ontario it is really flat but we have Lake Erie right next to us. Hard to get used to no hills after New Zealand landscape.
For a good part of the year, we live in South West France, a long way from Colorado but also a local call to heaven. From our terrace, we look out across open countryside to the distant chain of the Pyrenees. This morning I was on the terrace reading the verse from Isaiah 54 ‘For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from you.’ I looked out at my view and thought how I’d miss those mountains!
Water almost everywhere you turn. Excellent seafood. Colonial living. Impressive history. Love New England.
This morning I also had a deer running through the back yard.
I’m jealous of your morning hikes—the views & the dog (mine is getting a little old for long walks).
Have a great weekend!
~ Wendy
I live in Wilmore, KY. It’s a small town with a twist. We have Asbury University and Asbury Seminary. Two stop lights are the only traffic signals.
Wilmore is a beautiful blend of country folks and academia. Neighbors care for neighbors.
A seminary student was so touched by our only grocer’s plight of closing down, he began a campaign to save Fitch’s IGA.
Wilmore is the place I call home.
Wait a minute, I thought God’s country was Iowa…
We have a Field of Dreams and everything.
I agree with you Katie! I’m from Iowa too.
“If you build it, he will come.”
Very funny!
Carol, I visited Cape May this past spring. Climbed the lighthouse. Beautiful view.
Lived in Colorado for a few years – loved the mountains but missed the ocean. I’m back in Rhode Island- The Ocean State.
Anita:
Just have to respond and say hi, since I’m also a native Rhode Islander. Don’t run into another too often. I’ve been away from there for 37 years.
Cape May New Jersey is that place for me…we call it AKA Heaven.
I’m a Jersey guy who ended up in Eastern North Carolina. Being honest, I don’t really love it here. God probably screens his calls from here. haha!
Even though I currently live in eastern NC, I’ll always consider where I grew up my “home.” Adirondack Mountains; among these mountains I’ve always felt the safest.
Rofl! That was great.
I live in The Netherlands – You can now hire the cathedral in the city I live in for parties and what not.
There’s too few people that are still religious, here, for churches to live on.
Well, THAT stole a chuckle from me. I love it. 🙂 I live where I get to look at the Rockies every day, and I love it! Purple mountains majesty, sunrises, sunsets, lightning storms (though I like watching those from a distance rather than close up). Yes, Colorado truly is a wonderful place to live!
Lovely story!
I live in the beautiful west coast of Scotland – it rains a lot but that keeps the hills green and the heather a rich purple. Famous Loch Lomond is only a short car ride away and that’s where I feel closest to God’s awsome majesty, and can revel in the peace.
I live in the Northwest, and here’s a story to illustrate what that means.
I spent last weekend on the coast with my family, and while we were in a tourist shop, I overheard a man talking to the clerk. He wanted to know which Mo’s (a seafood establishment) was the original, and she gave the wrong answer.
“Actually, it’s the one in Newport,” I interjected.
“Newport? Really? We drove through there, and I didn’t see it, but we didn’t stay long because it was really a mad house.”
I gestured outside at the gorgeous, sunny day and said, “I’m not surprised, on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.”
His wife looked outside, then at me. “Beautiful, really? I mean… it’s kind of windy, isn’t it?”
“Well yes, but it’s not raining and or cloudy.”
“Is is USUALLY like that??”
Somehow, I managed NOT to say, “Y’all aren’t from around here, are you?”
I live in India. And the funny thing is that when this joke does the round here, it roams different countries and Colorado gets replaced by India 😀
Well, India in one word can be described as ‘varied.’ We have the best to worst of everything here. Do I need to say anything more?
I live in Pittsburgh, PA. Nestled among the Appalachian mountains, the merging points of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers and the beginning of the Ohio. I’ll proudly hold our skyline up against any other. Home of the Warhol Museum and the Pittsburgh Symphony. Inhabited by rabid sports fans, of which I am one and hardworking, blue collar people, of which I am one also.
Lisa, we’re “neighbors.” I live north of you near Lake Erie. 🙂
I love reading about where people live! I currently live in Switzerland, and I have never been anywhere that rivals the beauty of this country. The Alps take my breath away on a daily basis.
We’re scheduled to move back to NJ next year (Lord help me), which will be a true exercise in practicing the art of contentment.
Sigh.
Okay, I have to admit, the Alps can give the Rockies a run for their money.
And New Jersy’s not so bad if you stay away from the cities.
I grew up just 30 mins away from the Swiss border in Germany – loved living in that region and miss it often, although the Seattle climate I live in now is fairly similar so that helps. At least there are evergreens, hills and mountains in the distance . . . but I miss walking, the pastries (which you can afford to eat when you walk everywhere), the geraniums hanging in windowboxes and all the history.
There really is nothing to rival it! Although, I wouldn’t mind making it to the Rockies some day.
Fun story! I just got done watching the 1969 John Wayne version of True Grit which was filmed around Ouray, Colorado. Wow! What a beautiful area. I used to pass through the area yearly, but that was many years ago.
Where I live is in the Los Angeles area. When it’s not too smoggy I can see some pretty grand mountains. If there weren’t buildings across the street from me I would be able to see downtown L.A. about 12 miles away and if it were clear I might even be able to see the “Hollywood” sign in the distance. There used to be a Borders in the shopping center across the street from my house, but now on my morning walks I walk past the store that is now empty except for a few remaining book display fixtures that they apparently weren’t able to sell during the liquidation. We sure have nice weather though.
Lee
Tossing It Out
I’m an LA girl born and raised, and get back there often. California’s pretty great! (But nowadays I’m glad I just visit.)
I live in a postcard. It’s like being on paid vacation all the time. Anchorage, AK is the most beautiful place on earth and my family spends our time hiking, fishing and camping in summer and cross country skiing,sledding and snow boarding in winter. Hot chocolate is our drink of choice while we watch the Northern Lights. Come visit us Rachelle.
Thanks for the laugh, Rachelle. I’m a native Californian who’s blessed to live in the Sierra Foothills a hour’s drive from South Lake Tahoe. While the majesty of the Sierra Nevada Mountains is impressive, I’ve been to Denver and have to agree that the Rockies are spectacular.
Ha! I’ll have to tell my father that joke, he’s a pastor and he’ll get a big kick out of it. Except he’ll switch Colorado to Texas, where he lives. I used to be a die-hard Texan too, but now I’ve lived in Cali for about seven years. Being able to go outside in the summer for more than a few minutes is awfully nice.
I live in Iowa. It’s too hot in summer and too cold in winter. It snows too much and rains too much or too little. I love Iowa, but there’s one thing that is also common when you meet someone from Iowa… we all love to complain about the weather, even when it is nice out. We also have corn growing as far as the eye can see and more. Calls are free here. 🙂
I just returned from a trip to God’s country, as you call it, Rachelle 🙂 I’d say I have to agree. Absolutely love the mountains.
I, however, live in the flatlands — in the SE corner of KS. Neat thing is that the same God who created the beauty of CO and watched over me while I was there also created beauty in KS and walks with me every step of the way here as well.
SE Kansas is pretty. I just drove through Wichita a couple of weeks ago. East of there, I really like the hills and deciduous trees mixed with farmland. Hot. But pretty. 🙂
Little Rock Arkansas: Home of the only Presidential library with an Adults Only section.
🙂
D.
North Shore of Kauai. What more need be said?
Lorelei, Kauai is another one of my favorite places on earth. I’ve done some diving there including the north shore (I particularly remember Tunnels Reef) and I absolutely love the whole island!
I live about 15 minutes from you, Rachelle. I came here under protest because Uncle Same decreed the move (my husband was in the Air Force at the time). You could see my heel marks all the way from Florida up Raton Pass to the Springs.
We’ve been here 13 years now–and I am thankful every day that Colorado is home. The sunrises and sunsets over Pikes Peak? I’ve yet to see a repeat!
Me too, Beth. I’m a California girl and swore I’d never leave. But now, every single day I’m thankful I get to live here.
Oh, this is why I shouldn’t comment late at night. Blasted typo. I meant, of course, “Uncle Sam,” as in the military. Not “Uncle Same.”
Duh.
THAT was awesome!
I’ve lived all over the US. I love California, specifically the San Francisco Bay Area, best. But I live near Seattle now & I can honestly say, when the sun is shining, there is simply no place more beautiful on earth!
I agree with you – WHEN the sun is shining!
For thanksgiving my daughter and I will be visiting a friend in Lacey, Washington. I have never been to Lacey only to Port Angeles, La Push, Spokane and Tacoma so this will definitely be something new. My daughter has never been to Washington, and I would love to take her hiking. Were not even there yet and I’ve advised my daughter we might not come back to Virginia. I’m debating, should we go on a roadtrip or fly.
I live where you live. No point in telling the same story twice. Anyone who doesn’t understand the lure of Colorado has never lived here.
Beer, cheese and brats. I live in Wisconsin 😉
I live in the small village of Van Wyck, South Carolina – just south of Charlotte. We have four churches in the area – a United Methodist, a Presbyterian USA, a PCA (another Presbyterian), and an A.M.E. Zion. During mid-December, the community puts up poles with globes and candles. All the churches get together and have a “lighting the way” ceremony walking up Main Street from one church to the next light the candles along the way. Each church provides music and a word from the pastor. That one special night each year brings us all together with a binding spirit that can be felt all year long. It’s definitely God’s Country in the Carolinas.
Even in Denver my calls are 35 cents.
When God needs a break from Colorado, he vacations where I live. 🙂 Coastal redwoods and Pacific Ocean. Every time I meet a tourist, I say a prayer of gratitude for getting to LIVE here.
i live in two places really– hayesville, nc where our home is and then 20 minutes away in blairsville, ga where our motel is and we live on property. it’s almost like a dual life of sorts and i find myself explaining alot about where i “live”. but without a doubt this entire area is God’s country. the people, the scenery, the good will permeates the area. it’s almost as if we live in a bubble from the real world at times. it’s definitely a local call from here.