Monday, July 26, 2010

My Hilbilly Bone

Sometimes my life feels a little bit more like a country song than it should. I realized this a few weeks ago when I was scraping worm guts off my new velour tracksuit. Note to self: looking stylish while fishing is both entirely unnecessary and impractical. But seriously, It’s as if I am Gretchen Wilson or Miranda Lambert. The lyrics of Redneck Woman definitely came to mind last week while I attempted to hit the bottlecap my brother fastened to a pine tree with our rifle, or yesterday as I wrestled our loose goat, Franky, back into the coral. It may seem like a strange phenomenon, for someone to juggle both a small town American and a big city lifestyle, but frankly, I enjoy getting dirt under my nails just as much as I enjoy having them manicured. In fact, I am grateful for this balance in my life.

I only visit this topic because I am moving back to New York city permanently, and it couldn’t seem farther from where I am now, both in miles and in way of life. Aside from the fact that it actually is one of the farthest places I could choose to move from home on the continental US, the vibrant lights and hustle that encompass New York will probably both scare and thrill me. I haven’t been back in a while.

There are both good and bad things about living in a big city. A city is a great place for someone who likes diversity, culture, and to feel empowered. I found that after living in New York last summer I felt like a stronger human being, a person more capable of conquering obstacles than my former self. This is probably due to the sheer size and amount of it, which teaches you how to truly coexist, or maybe it’s just the acquired talent for avoiding lunatic cabbies and bag peddlers. One can’t be too sure.

There are also a lot of bad things about big cities. They can make you become cynical, untrustworthy, and calloused toward humanity. When there are millions of people, it’s easy to feel like just another person, and treat the next guy like exactly that, “the next guy”.

I am hoping my simple American roots will help me counteract some of the big city backwash that will surely find its way into my first New York City cocktail. In a place with more concrete than grass, people than cows, and greed than charity, the constant reflection on the uncomplicated concepts of family, kindness, generosity, and love are imperative to happiness.

As Blake Shelton said it:
Yeah I got a friend in New York City
He's never heard of Connway Twitty
Don't know nothing about grits and greens
Never been south of Queens
But he flew down here on a business trip
I took him honky tonkin' and that was it
He took to it like a pig to mud, like a cow to cud

We all got a hillbilly bone down deep inside
No matter where you from you just can't hide it
And when the band starts banging and the fiddle saws
You can't help but hollering, Yee Haw!
When you see them pretty little country queens
Man you gotta admit that's in them genes
Ain't nothing wrong, just getting on your
hillbilly bone-ba-bone-ba-bone-bone

My hillbilly bone will be right there in my suitcase, next to my favorite Marc Jacobs top. It’s all about Balance.