Flipped Rowboat

Almost at the crossing of the Norfolk Southern Rail Line and Difficult Creek, in the farmer’s fields of Halifax County, Virginia (close to Midway). Midway is marked on the map, but Midway between what? Maybe Roanoke and Richmond? Besides questioning this Midway location, I’ll sit for a spell and drink in the thick spring air. I’ll sit on this flipped rowboat and waste data by looking at stupid shit on Pinterest and trying to memorize Cardi B lyrics. This is my zone, down in the VA with soil under my fingernails to mark my toil back in these Southern wood lots. With lots to think about. Taking in an opportunity to sit alongside an irrigation pond, taking a second to smell in the sweet pine air and look for the ticks of early spring. Leaves aren’t quite on the trees yet, so a warm spring sun is relentless.

Furthermore:

I call this segment, “Get Up 10.” This is the title of my favorite Cardi B song, to date. I find it necessary to immortalize my friend right now. G.C.M. is my friend, confidant, co-worker. This guy is constant beast mode in a time and era when this is suspect in human nature. His relentlessness in the hours of toil in these fields is like a lion breaking from a cage, like a hoard of bats screeching out of the caves, like Cardi B unleashing unapologetic fury on all haters, he is something of a phenomenon. This day, I had the time to rowboat reflect as my confidant took a break in the field across the pasture. He was sick as a dog this day but his work was more apparent than ever. It was like his sickness made him stronger, richer in fortitude, it shaped him and made him a leader. I told him, “Man, this Cardi song is yours today, Get Up 10.” If you knocked this young man down 9 times, he would get up 10. That’s the spirit I seek out for myself, this is the type of person I want to be surrounded with, this is the type of dude I can stand up for and walk next to. He led me that day. All this I fathomed while I sat by the rowboat and made selfies of myself to add to my blossoming blog. Dude gives me hope for the human spirit. His integrity never waffles or ripples. That is how you win.

Furthermore:

One of my happy places is the gazebo at the Days Inn & Suites in South Boston, VA. Particularly in mid spring. The time of year when the flowers are popping, the birds are caressing my ears with songs like the sweetest of breezes. The air is laden with the aroma of pine and dryness and summer Southern heat on the horizon. I can smell the sunset as it burns into the Piedmont red clay. A day of field work done, the gazebo is a sanctuary. The giraffe and donkey planters redirect my energy. You know, a 70 degree spring day is intense because the trees are leaveless. A day moving in the woods is enough to elicit drowsiness and want for cold weather camping in a 5 gold star, 3 star hotel room.