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Day 4
I’m sure most of you are wondering why it has taken me so
long to document my first few days in the lovely Charlotte, NC. Clearly my counting of days starts at four instead of one. (I promise I can count.) It is not due
to the fact that I have been busy every second since I arrived or that I did
not want to write. It is simply because I have little to say. That sounds like
a bad thing. But it is actually very good. This place that I get the privilege
of calling home for the next seven weeks has left me at a loss for words. Until
now!
I have spent the last four days doing my best to take all of
this in. Yes, I have visited Charlotte many times before. However, my trips
never lasted more than a mere seven days. In the past that has been just enough
time for me to make many trips to my favorite place, Yoforia, take a
much-needed trip to the South Park mall, and participate in a few
third-wheeling Netflix movie nights with one of my favorite couples. But not
this time around! I am here for a whopping seven weeks. That gives me plenty of
time to explore, experience the city life, drive my brother-in-law crazy, meet
some cool people, and maybe even focus on what the heck I want to do with the
rest of my life. As of right now, I have no idea. I’ll get there. Eventually.
It seems as though everything here is…. cooler. The smell of
the fresh rain on the pavement is much more appealing than it is in Beaufort.
(By the way, it did rain the day I came here. Hmmm, wonder what that means?) Although
a symbol for tragedy, the ringing siren of a speeding ambulance is 10x more
euphonious than it is back home. I know that is terrible to say, but I’m just
being honest. Red lights here are so much more entertaining. They become a
window into the lives of complete strangers. I am referring to the
not-so-secretive nose-pickers, dashboard drummers, screaming children, and
those girls who forget that their windows are rolled down as they sing at the
top of their lungs to the song that is playing on the radio. Those are the kind
of people I’m talking about. And they are all part of the beautiful chaos that
I speak so fondly of these days.
Obviously I am getting some quality time with three of my
favorite human beings. I know I say that people are my favorites a lot, but
they really are. Getting to wake up to Everly’s sweet face every morning
ensures the fact that I will NEVER be able to be in a sour mood while I am
here. Getting to laugh and just spend time with my sister, Jennie has really
enabled our relationship to grow. I’m not saying that it has ever been bad,
cause it hasn’t. It has just been taken to a greater level. Every stream of
words that flows out of Nick’s mouth is well thought and almost always
hilarious. He is just that awesome. Basically what I am trying to say is that
of all people I could choose to spend my summer with, I choose them. There is
no other way to put it.
Looking back, I realize that I may have been a bit dramatic
when saying goodbye to Beaufort for the summer. But I’m not sure you realize
what a big step this is for me. Most of my goodbyes were to people I didn’t
want to say goodbye to and some of them I never actually did. I have left
behind all I’ve ever known for a place and people that I’ve never known. That’s
the exciting part! I don’t know where I am going when I take three rights and
two lefts. I don’t know the people that ride past me when I am enjoying the
swing on the front porch. I don’t know the cashier working at the grocery
store. But I assure you that by the end of the summer I will. I will know all
of their names and probably their dog’s name too.
Here’s to seven weeks filled with spontaneous moments and
new friends. Skyscraper-lit strolls through Uptown and even more Netflix movie
nights. Mid-day naps with Everly by my side and hysterical games of “Heads-Up”
after dinner. Here’s to the next 41 days that will always be remembered as the
summer I lived in Charlotte, NC.
