posing as a local

Dr. Leo Marvin: I want some peace and quiet!
Bob Wiley: Well, I'll be quiet.
Siggy: I'll be peace!
[Bob and Siggy burst into giggles]

I have this thing about eating where the locals eat. Whether I'm in New York City or tiny Beaver Dam Kentucky, I want to eat where the locals eat. Why? Because I figure the locals know what's best. Heck, they live there year round! So when I go to NYC, I'm not big on eating at Tavern on the Green. No doubt, Tavern on the Green is good. I've discovered that the hole-in-the-walls though are the gems. My favorite restaurant in the world is literally a hole-in-the-wall in Nashville called Rotiers. It's in West End and it's phenomenal. The cheeseburgers on french bread get voted the best in Nashville every year. It's been there for over 50 years. It's a hangout for Vanderbilt students, the governor of Tennesse (yes, the governor), and country music peeps. When I've taken people there they enter apprehensive and even sometimes snobby about it's appearance. They leave impressed.

One of my alltime favorite movies "What About Bob" keeps me rolling on the floor because during a big chunk of the movie Bob (Bill Murray) is hanging out in this vacation town wearing a shirt that says "Don't Hassle Me, I'm Local". Sometimes when I'm on vacay I feel like Bob, trying to blend in with the people that live in the beach town yearround. Seaside for example. I pretend that I live right around the corner.

Monday night I went to a Boz Scaggs and John Hiatt concert at the ryman. The next morning as we were leaving our hotel, we decided to ask the bellmen where to eat breakfast. They suggested we go to Khan's Mongolian BBQ. Once again, remember that we were looking for a BREAKFAST eatery so a BBQ joint didn't sound appetizing to us at first. Then we were assured by the young chaps not to be fooled by the name.

So we walked into this joint and it was deeeserted. No typo there. I mean to add those extra e's for Emphasis. It was a vast wasteland. Likely because it was 9:30AM on a Tuesday and we were downtown so everybody who eats breakfast there probably eats before 8 or 9 before they WORK (i was off work that day). Then a man walks up to us and from the start, treated us like royalty. And it was deeeeelish. Added e's for Emphasis with the world delish as well. Authentic southern cooking. Like my memaw used to make before she went to the nursing home. Sausage gravy & biscuits. Omelets. Bacon. Grits. Wow.

As we left there I said "he treated us like we were the only customers he had!" Then I paused and said "oh yeah, it's because we really were the only customers he had!" So who knows if I'll ever find out if the Mongolian BBQ is good, but let me assure you that I'll be there at 9:30 AM for breakfast the night after my next concert (ps- it's Willie Nelson next! woot woot)
“There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign." -Robert Louis Stevenson

circle of life

"From the day we arrive on the planet; and, blinking, step into the sun; there's more to see than can ever be seen; more to do than can ever be done; there's far too much to take in here; more to find than can ever be found; but the sun rolling high; through the sapphire sky; keeps great and small on the endless round"
-Elton John, The Circle of Life lyrics for the movie The Lion King

When I was young a movie came out called The Lion King. Not that I'm old enough to talk about the good ole days, but let's pretend I am. Because in the days I was young, Disney movie releases were a big deal. I'm talking huge. Elementary school classrooms were always buzzing with chatter about the latest characters, from Beauty to Jasmine to Simba. I remember sporting my Little Mermaid backpack in the first grade. I thought I'd surely be the hottest commodity in my class when I showed up with that thing adorning my back. What girls will do to get noticed, even at the age of 6. As a child, the one movie that I couldn't get enough of though was Cinderella. The whole notion that one shoe could change your life captivated me. Let's be honest, it still does or I wouldn't have an embarrassing amount of gold ballet flats. But as I've grown up, the Disney flick that I've grown fond of is The Lion King. I think so many principles in that film can apply to our lives. The lessons about unwavering friendship, loyalty to family, intrinsic need for purpose, desire to serve your community, and belief that true love always finds a way.

So imagine how I filled with joy when I realized that I had stumbled upon the perfect example of the circle of life. Yesterday I went to the funeral of Dr. Wright aka Buck Wright. I was so grateful that my parents had called to let me know of Dr. Wright's passing. I'd like to really make the story of him delivering of me 26 years ago a unique one (and according to my parents, it is) but this man delivered half of Bowling Green. I am one of thousands. What makes this man unique among thousands of obstetricians? The pastor did a wonderful job explaining how he really was an extraordinary man, and most importantly, incredibly Christ-like. Just as Christ died and delivered us from our sins, Dr. Wright also had a theme of deliverance in his life. He delivered babies, yes. This doesn't need explanation for why it is a truly special gift. But what a lot of people didn't know was that he was very active in the ministry of Alcoholics Anonymous. Through his own personal battle that he had overcome, he was able to save countless people from a lifetime of addiction to alcohol. Some one may know how many babies he delivered into the world, but no one will ever know how many people he kept alive through his ministry with AA. It stuns me to think of the impact he had on people in my community during his lifetime.

I feel so blessed to have been able to say farewell. How amazing that I saw him out of the world he saw me into. The circle of life indeed. The Elton John lyrics "and it moves us all, through despair and hope, through faith and love, till we find our place, on the path unwinding, in the Circle of Life" have never been truer in my life. I was moved to tears in that moment- reciting the Lord's prayer at a service honoring the person who helped me take my first breath. The meaning of life never made more sense. It was a wonderful reminder of how much I admire my elders, of how I really believe everything comes full circle, and how I know that my heavenly Father surely does work in mysterious ways.
"to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived; this is to have succeeded." -ralph waldo emerson