Bude, Mississippi.
Nothing in the sky today except for the sun...nothing to impede the beams. The dingy gray concrete has taken on a yellow glow. The the tin roofs across the street become elusive white streaks on the back of your eyelids when the brain takes evasive action and shuts your eyes. Across me is a white cinder block wall...a giant sheet of flourescent light.
I'm at Shell Station across from King's Discount Pharmacy and B&B Foods...where 98 dead ends at 184. There's no town to speak of. Ten unremarkable structures at an intersection suurounded by oaks. The only thing taller than the trees is an ancient lookin' antenna that can't possibly serve any purpose other than target practice for lightning.
Lots of small commercial trucks groan to a stop and then wind back up headed to Brookhaven or Natchez dependin'...
There's nothin here y'all. Don't think anythings ever happened here...at least until today. Less than a thousand folks. The majority are black. Many places across the US that would be a novelty...in Mississippi it's pretty typical. There's nothin' to tell...no reason to run the place down but, nothing to recommend it either.
I'm only here for one reason...I'm waiting' on a tow truck.
Nothing here but the interminable British battleship grey sky leaking downpour from God's holey p*ss bucket. Well, at least the garden gets a watering. If this keeps up, I will be forced to stock-check the animal and timber supply for that ark I never seem to get around to building.
ReplyDeleteWe may all be where we are for a reason, but in what way do we belong to that reason?
ReplyDeletePlease phone our premium rate line with your answers.
The winner gets a wooden spoon with which to stir the overcooked contents of their pot.
The post is in need of some editing but blogger's not cooperating this afternoon.
ReplyDeleteI was there because somewhere around McCall Creek my water pump broke loose and threw the fan into my alternator belt.
Despite being just beyond where the map goes blank when it happened....I'm lucky it was today and not tomorrow. I'll really be in the woods tomorrow.
Ah, I've been to Bude too! Only the one I've been to is a pleasant-enough seaside town in Cornwall, surrounded by sandy beaches, white-painted hotels, camping sites and an entirely different view of the Atlantic... I do find it interesting how we share quite a lot of names for towns, but everything else about them must be so very different.
ReplyDeleteI hope you didn't have to wait too long for your tow-truck...and that you have a smooth, safe drive tomorrow.
There's a Stanton and Crosby too...just to name a few...in the area.
DeleteHa...I'm absolutely certain that our Budes are worlds apart (though not alien to one another I'd bet). The state is littered with British place names....Bolton, Plymouth, Oxford, Aberdeen, etc...first exit into Louisiana (still Anglo territory...barely) is Kentwood and Liverpool.
As for the wait...see below. :)
Now that sounds a nasty hurt to your engine.
ReplyDeleteI snapped a serpentine belt which decided to strangle my timing belt. Did for my diesel engine. I cried. I love my car...
Bude. Reminds me a bit of home. Unremarkable.
The difference? Black was the colour of miners tramping home. Dirt poor. Trapped in a defunct industrial land of old pit bings and the sun never did shine...
You do descriptive prose e.f. - it suits you - you do it justice.
I got lucky really...the belt just sat where it was...could've been a lot worse.
DeleteMy guess is that most of folks in those parts worked in timber...now what's left probably works in Brookhaven.
Thank you ma'am. It's amazing what you can do with a mundane intersection...when you've got an hour and a half to mull it over.
Oh boooo. Not even any interesting food?
ReplyDeleteDon't you fret Ms. Ma'am...we'll have plenty of good groceries to talk about in the next installment.
DeleteHope your tow truck didn't take too long, EF, La mujer libre is right - that was a fine piece of descriptive writing which left me wanting more.
ReplyDeleteThank you...thank you.
DeleteYou're in luck...it was only getting started at this point.
I really enjoyed reading that, EF. It reminded me of the time I once went to Bedworth, UK. When David Sylvian wrote "a quiet town where life gives in", I am convinced he had Bedworth in mind. But maybe it was Bude after all?
ReplyDeleteThank ye kindly.
DeleteThe combination of fluid economy, low population, large landmass in the subtropics...leads to ghost towns.
Bude's not that bad...but, it's not uncommon to drive past a place name in the woods...where nothing stands but trees. It's been reclaimed and if the sign wasn't there you'd never guess that anything else had ever been there.
Grand Gulf comes to mind. There's a park there because of battle during the war but...the town I couldn't tell you where it used to stand.
Auburn, not too far from Bude and Meadville, is on the verge.
thank you for sharing
ReplyDeletenice work
ReplyDeleteThank you. Thank you...I couldn't possibly carry on without the genuine support of my readers.
ReplyDelete