In this moment

Last night some friends from Michigan stopped by Memphis to meet us for dinner on their way to Texas. Aiming for some level of Memphian authenticity without having to battle crowds, we met them at Soul Fish Cafe, on the outskirts of Midtown (which is sort of like Eastown, if you're from Grand Rapids), just into Cooper-Young. Afterwards we walked around the block to get milkshakes at Java Cabana.

Driving on the highway on the way back, top down, I had a chance to look around more. There was the great dark sky above me. Trees popping up in clumps. (There are these amazing trees everywhere still flowering in the middle of July, with little white and pink blossoms.) City lights twinkling around. I stuck my hands up (David was driving, not me, in case anyone got worried), and my palms were getting buffeted by the wind in a way that was half attack and half hug. Bugs were chirping. Something was playing loudly on the radio.

All I could think was, "In this moment, I swear, we are infinite" (Chbosky). (If you don't know what I am talking about or just want to relive the rush again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlWpupgrTCQ - the quote is also in the book - this is one case where I think the book and movie are both spectacular and complement each other nicely.)

It was one of those moments where everything sparkles and you're completely enthralled just to be alive. Which made me realize how negative I've been.

"Why can't we find anywhere to recycle cardboard?"
"It's always so hot in our apartment!"
"I wish I could walk to a cute little coffee shop. Or anywhere, really."

That last complaint had been simmering for a while, but it recently came out in a Skype conversation with my sister, who lives in Oregon City. She was complaining that although there were 2 coffee shops she could walk to, one of them had no atmosphere but good coffee, and one had great atmosphere, but terrible coffee.

I laughed. If I walked 30 minutes (through the heat), I could get to a Chick-fil-A or iHop.

But you know what? We chose to do that. We could have lived in the cute little areas. And we chose to live here. So now I need to own it and stop complaining.

My flash of infinity opened me to the positive, which made me realize how negative I've been, so here are 10 reasons I love Memphis:

1. Flowers in July
2. I feel like it's really summer. Yes, you sweat by just existing, but that's how it's supposed to be. And there are sounds of bugs all around you. It's like...I'm home again. There are dead semi/cicadas on the ground. That's what summer is.
3. All the sides that come with breakfast - for instance, at Blue Plate Cafe, if you order an omelette, it comes with 2 biscuits and gravy and your choice of grits or 3 pancakes or hash browns.
4. Donuts at church every week
5. Sandwich brigade at church (once a month during Sunday school hour we make sandwiches for people who are homeless - we made 800 yesterday)
6. Laundry in our apartment (as opposed to the basement, at college)
7. Our mini garden (Bruce the spruce, Paulo the cilantro, Angel the oregano, Mei-chan the basil, Archie the parsley, and Plato the sago palm)
8. I will not have to trudge through snow to scrape our bug, Jeeves, in February. (I try to remember this when the black leather seat is burning my thighs.)
9. The roads all have such darling names, like Birch Run Lane, Frosty Meadow Drive, and Autumn Springs Cove.
10. Every apartment complex (at least that we looked into) has a pool. Maybe once it cools down a little, we'll try ours out.

Peace,
Anneke