The Joys of Joplin
Monday, February 11th, 2008A few weeks ago my youngest nephew spontaneously started making a list: “The little joys of life” including such unarguable things as “petting a friendly dog.” Soon after I left for what I considered to be a “non-adventure”—3 months in Joplin Missouri to feed my piggy bank’s growling belly. As I got closer, I saw a bulletin board with a giant rodent of some kind (chipmunk? beaver?) arms thrown wide, proclaiming: “Fun is just one hour away in Joplin, Missouri!!” I laughed and thought maybe I’d been looking at this traveling assignment the wrong way. Maybe it WOULD be fun! The chipmunk promises!
Hah. First week I could have shot that chipmunk. Maybe he or his rodent buddies were the ones that left sprinklings of poop all over the kitchen counter of the house where I was renting a room. Maybe HIS idea of fun is plunking coins in a casino, cruising the tattoo parlors on Main Street, or loading up the cart with potato chip specials at the Walmart Supercenter.
Well, another week past, a beautiful new apartment with WHITE tub walls and WHITE refrigerator and I began to see everything else as a little less moldy too. So, I’ve brushed off my attitude and decided to make my own little list of joys. This one: The Joys of Joplin, or The Things that Will Keep Me Sane Here.
1. Trips to St. Louis. I have actually never lived this close to home. Now I get to experience what it WOULD have been like to be a college student in Missouri—dirty laundry in, frozen goods and fresh-baked cookies coming out. Time to just “hang out” rather than dash to storage and pack and unpack for a trip.
2. A library card. I haven’t had one for 17 years and am rediscovering the magic of dusty books, old movies, and obscure CD’s.
3. Zumba. I am aware what it says when your exercise class is your social highlight of the week, but it is. Somehow, on that basketball court with Latin dance music booming I can feel like I’m shaking my tail somewhere else far away. Columbia maybe. Until I notice that all the women next to me are pale and wearing 7 layers of make-up to their workout.
4. Dollar stores. NOT $1.99 stores, not even $1.79 stores, but the true classics—everything for a buck. In fact, they even have a pre-recorded message cycling overhead to remind you that, indeed, “everything IS a dollar.” For $1 you can buy everything from undies to a Malawa guidebook. It’s not Sitka’s “White E,” but it certainly has a charm of its own. And now I have a bath pillow for my new white tub.
5. A caseload full of Bettys, Butch’s, Buddy’s, and Goldie’s. These are some of the toughest old folks I’ve ever met. They cuss and spit and have photos of their bulls up in their room. Not only that, but I’ve discovered that a week in a hospital bed can’t deflate a beehive hairdo. I do love these people.
6. Time, time and more time to do each and every one of those “creative” projects that never before made the freetime cut. Now I can spend 3 months writing, drawing, painting, strumming, and stringing. They may even have me crocheting doilies by the end of it.
7. Skype. My “fully furnished executive suite” has two large-screen televisions…but no phone. “Because ever’body has a cell phone!” the landlord exclaimed and I couldn’t argue with him. Everyone but me. So I’ve discovered the joys (and warbly, word-cutting frustrations) of talking for free on the computer.
….and I’m sure that with a few more weeks I can progress my list to 10. It’s good to keep up the suspense for excitement to come. That muddy creek in Joplin’s “scenic” Conservation Center was also a good reminder that although I may feel like I’m moving through time like that catatonic turtle, I’ll eventually be carried away to a greener bank. ; )
bimpy_ak