in the flats

Highway 78 is lined with tiny towns all the way up to the Kentucky border.  As I passed through on my way to the funeral home I mentally noted the spots that I've driven by a hundred times.....Nauvoo, Bogota, Broadmoor, Ridgely and finally Tiptonville.  There's a huge bluff leading from Nauvoo to Bogota where the road (finally) straightens out from that curvy bunch of mess in the hills.  Bikini Bottoms on the right by the Obion River.  A post office in each little town. I had never been to this particular funeral home so I had to stop twice to find out where I was going.  Turns out I drove smooth past it the first time.  

Lake county is home to the legendary Reelfoot which was formed in ummm...1812? from an earthquake where the Mississippi flowed backwards, or so I'm told.  It used to be a thriving tourist attraction but now there's a giant port there which has taken over much of the quaintness.  Still...if you want to catch fish OR eat them, that's the place to be. There is a state park there and a building named after Lorna's dad who was himself a legend.  There is water standing everywhere along the Obion/Lake part of the highway which is almost exclusively devoted to crops.  I saw one little patch of winter wheat which was a welcome sight among all those corn stalks.  

My arm was pretty achey after the drive so I took an exit and headed home slowly thinking about how beautiful Hazen looked and how heartbroken her family is.  And finally, I've met everybody in the family except for Annabelle and her tribe.  The final song for her funeral will be the one I talked about yesterday.  

Coming off the pain meds may be more of a challenge than I thought but I'll work through it with ibuprofen and whatnot.  I've used the pain med VERY sparingly to get through the worst of it.  Which is how it should be used.  Not sold on the street.  For the "crisis" that is opioid addiction there is no simple answer but it definitely starts with front line providers like nurse practitioners and physicians.  That won't stop the heroin but it would sure put a whoa ho on the pills.  Just saying.

I'm preparing to say goodbye to 2017 and don't let the door hit you in the ass.  There have been good things and bad things but I'm always one to embrace a new calendar and all the possibilities.  Especially now.

^j^