Vacation….it is something different to everyone. For me, it means a four star hotel with a pool and a weight room, in a major metropolitan area with lots of museums and festivals, lots of people, happy hour every evening in the hotel, and a selection of four star restaurants within walking distance. You see, living in the middle of an urban sprawl has spoilt me to convenience.

Last week I visited my family in the rural deep south…it is a different world. Don’t get me wrong, my family is great…friendly and funny and full of that gracious southern hospitality that marks the states of the southern U.S. latitudes. And the countryside is beautiful. I chose to drive…time to think and scenery to take in. Everything is as I remember it…lush and green and sprawling in the summer heat. BUT I won’t do it again! Give me busy airports and a quick getaway. I loved seeing my family, but intermittent cell signals, limited internet access, curving, isolated country roads, and long hours in the car were nothing like relaxing.

Though my family, and the bounteous deep south they represent, is an integral part of what has made me, I am not afraid to admit that I have become the epitome of a city girl! No more country adventures for me although I will always treasure the images of my family and the culture I am from. It was good to see them and to reminisce about the many southern summers of my childhood, but it was even better to return home to my cozy, over-priced city loft, to the sounds of traffic and crowds, and to convenience and technology within my fingertips…or at least within walking distance!

Southern Summer

The deep summer night envelops me
like a costly cloak of billowing satin.
A chorus of night creatures hums a medley
against whirring air conditioners
and milling cars.
One stray mosquito,
having escaped the city’s sprays,
flutters by me on its bloody quest.
Silence,
in the city’s sounds
and in the heavy air stirring slowly through its streets.
Silence,
in the humid heat
that is shuttled and spun ‘round by a lazy ocean breeze-
A southern breeze that waltzes
amongst old warehouses
and antique shops
and columned mansions-
That saunters amongst shrimp boat riggings
and wooden piers
and gabled roofs
and a thousand open verandas.
Above it all float a few wispy clouds
tendrils of gray life that strut across the darkness.
A sprinkling of stars sparkle
against the velvet black sky
and dirty cotton clouds
and rosy city glow.
A palm tree rears its spiny leaves,
its sturdy posture a stalwart silhouette.
Above it all sings a single chime-
The courthouse clock
tall and regal
and three hundred years old
Still it chimes the hours,
its cheerful notes cascading
through the sultry air-
The sweet southern air that slowly,
ever so slowly,
lulls me into slumber.