God Bless the Rednecks

I went to undergrad at Lees-McRae College in the mountains of western North Carolina. At a Lees-McRae graduation ceremony decades before I was student, the keynote speaker eloquently said,

"Through the years you will hear the whisper.  It will blow down the Elk River and through these pines, among the mountains, to the highways wherever we are.  It will always be the same message for us, the message from Lees-McRae... it will say, ‘come back, come back.'"

Whenever I hear that quote it reminds me of how much I miss the mountains and North Carolina. Sometimes I feel the pull so strongly that it's like I can hear those words being whispered in my ear.

Home is definitely a feeling for me, but I don't think I ever appreciated North Carolina when I lived there. 

I've been displaced from my roots for more than 6 months and it hasn't become any easier. I'm now realizing all the things I love about the people, the state and, more importantly, the feeling I get when I drive home and catch the first glimpse of a North Carolina farm, a redneck with a mullet or super fancy trailer park.

Oh, home.  How I miss you.

Upscale Trailer Park. Hehe.

That may sound redneck and crazy to you, but it's all about pride. I know my roots and I know my people. For better or worse, God bless 'em, they're mine.

Haha.  Oh rednecks.

So, you might ask, what makes all this worthy of pride?  Well I'm glad you asked.

I think that instead of an explanation, perhaps I will just name a few things I found on a hilarious webpage called "You know you're from North Carolina if..." You never know, after reading this you may want to convert to the redneck religion - so proceed with caution.

You Know You're From North Carolina If...

1. Most of the men in town consider the first day of deer season a national holiday
2. Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waitin' to pass a tractor on the highway
3. You skipped school to go to Dale Earnhardt's memorial service
4. You know a bunch of people who have hit a deer or a bear
5. Brown Liquor is a household staple
6. You see people wearing bib overalls at funerals
7. All the festivals around the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, or tobacco
8. You put security lights on your house and your garage and leave both of them unlocked
9. You think the four major food groups are beef, pork, beer, and Jello salad with marshmallows
10. You know what "cow tipping" is.
11. You say, “it don’t” instead of “it doesn’t.”
12. At least one of your female relatives has dipped snuff.
13. Your luxury car is a 4x4
14. “Onced” and “twiced” are words.
15. It ain't the Civil War, its the War of Northern Aggression

Bless your heart, I bet your bags are already packed and ready to move to North Carolina. Well we'd be just plum tickled to have ya!