South Pacific or Les Mes, You Decide

Here's what I had in mind when I thought "anywhere south and warm." Yesterday I took the pickup in to a transmission shop with the intention of doing what I'd read about on-line, which was, have the transmission flushed and add a can of Lucas magic transmission fix-it. But the mechanic said a flush would likely make it worse so I just added the magic bottle of fix-it and decided I would head a bit south, anyway, but not in my own truck.

I called up the folks at Enterprise Rental in Germantown, a suburb of Memphis, and reserved a pickup for today, Tuesday. Remember that episode of Seinfeld, where Jerry reserves a car at a rental agency and the whole episode is about the fact a reservation implies you actually have a car to rent? Well, that's coming. But first, my Garmin navigator decided there was no such address in Germantown and I spent an hour trying to get to an address that was only 20 minutes away. This is the 3rd time my Garmin has malfunctioned and led me on a wild goose chase. But with multiple phone calls to and from the rental folks, I arrived.

Minutes go by while I'm filling out forms. Then a phone call comes to Joe, who's waiting on me, telling him that somehow, someone else had rented out my already reserved truck and they didn't have one for me. He laughed, embarrassed, I laughed and reminded him of Seinfeld. He offered me a cargo van. He showed me a little mini-something or other, then made some phone calls. They'd found a truck for me, a larger, nicer one than I'd reserved, but it was an hour away. I'd take it, I said and went off to get some breakfast.

My truck arrived and Joe gave me a loaner Garmin since mine was being useless and sent me on my way. While I waited, we talked about writing and gardening. Once again, I crossed paths with a very fine fellow. In my own business we always try to treat our customers like we would like to be treated and it was a nice start to the day to have Joe at Enterprise Rental, treat his customers that way, as well. Once again, my day started off with an interesting and helpful person.

So where did I head? To McMinnville, the wholesale nursery capital of the world. I used to drive to McMinnville every spring to buy nursery plants and have not visited the area in nearly 25 years. I used to have a favorite restaurant there, the Gay-Low, where all the locals went for lunch and I collected several recipes from there over the years. I learned tonight from a local lady, the restaurant's been closed for years.

Speaking of food, I was tickled when my friend, Alan, took me to a new place, Brother Junipers, in Memphis for breakfast. It's one of those great out of the way eating joints that only the locals know about and this one  made me downright envious of people who can find a place like this on a whim. Such places do not exist in my neighborhood. Imagine a place where the locals go, where it's a mixture of professors, professional & working people, students and local folks. The service was outstanding, the food was great and the waiters even offer you a cup of coffee to take with you afterward.

Alan and I both had the Firehouse Omelette: a 2-egg open face omelette, spread with guacamole, topped with grilled chorizo, black beans, jalapenos and salsa and topped with grated cheddar cheese, served with cheese grits and homemade biscuit. I'm not sure where our waiter, Zach, learned to be such a good waiter so young, but from what I saw, the entire wait staff was well trained. The wait for a table was about 30 minutes and well worth it. Zach said the original Brother Junipers restaurant is in San Francisco, but this one's been in Memphis for a couple of decades. It's at 3519 Walker Ave. in case you're ever in Memphis and want the best breakfast in Memphis (they've got the awards and plaques on the walls to prove it).

So the days of being snowed in and iced over in Memphis could have been like Les Miserables. But I had a delightful evening with my cousins Bob and Myra and family over dinner one evening. Alan and I explored the best kept secrets of Memphis eating establishments, and over and over again I met folks like Melverdia and Joe and others who just proved there are a lot of really fine folks out here in the world and I'm just lucky to get to meet them. Now, off to the wholesale nurseries and see what the plant world has to offer this spring.

The Lovely, Sunny South

I was whimpering just a few days ago about having to give up on my plant & seed hunting trip to Thailand. I just couldn't make the schedule work, but I need a plant fix, and some warmth. With winter storms predicted, and my dread of more winter, I headed south from the Ozarks on Thursday morning, with the goal of making it to Tampa by Saturday, well ahead of the ice, snow and more cold. I'd hoped to be bringing you news of some great plant finds and some very cool thrift shop bargains. Funny how life moves.

I made it as far as a motel in Germantown, just outside Memphis, Tennessee by Thursday night. My truck transmission was slipping, the storm was fast approaching and I was tired. I thought I would get up early and head on south and east and keep ahead of the blizzard. But morning revealed ice covering everything and the storm had extended down into Mississippi and Alabama, just where I was intending to drive.

Pausing in the Comfort Suites Motel lobby to have some coffee, I visited with a couple of the patrons, trying to decide whether to risk the weather, and the ailing truck transmission and try to keep driving. Then I met Melverdia, who works at the motel desk. What she told me had a strong effect on my entire day.

Melverdia is a remarkable woman, although I'm certain she is too modest to ever agree. She's had lots of challenges in her life. She retired from working at a prison, certainly a stressful job. She's lost a brother to cancer and agent orange, has grown and changed through her years, with challenges that would flatten many people. So what is it that Melverdia said to me that affected my day so thoroughly?

First I have to tell you more about my day, in order to appreciate her words. Picture it, my suitcase full of short sleeved shirts and shorts, sunblock, a listing of plant nurseries and no thoughts of winter, and I'm stranded in an ice and snow storm. Add in the fact the best pickup truck ever, has a transmission problem. And imagine I've just visited the Toyota dealer down the street to learn that it will cost more than $4,000 to fix the problem, but the rebuilt transmission has to come from Ohio, and they're out of stock and won't be able to ship another for at least a week. Imagine, if you will, my 2001 pickup is barely worth twice the cost of the new transmission. Do you see the sands of Florida slipping through my fingers? This could have been a very bad day.

Melverdia said to me, "Every day is a good day for me. People come in here and say what a bad day they're having and I tell them there may be challenges to deal with, but that doesn't mean it has to be a bad day. My friends say every day can't be a good day and I tell them it is. I wake up every morning and say to God, thank you for an another day. It's good to be alive."

We talked for a good while and I mostly listened. Melverdia certainly wasn't preaching, I had to ask questions to learn abougt her life, but she kindly shared what she had learaned. She said she grew up in a house where her mother had to work hard and could barely feed the family, but through it all, she never had a bad day. She could always smile, could always find something to be thankful for, and always understood that attitude is a choice. You can choose to see life half empty, or you can simply see that it's actually always filling up. Challenges will come and go, you grow stronger and learn form them all, but you can choose to have a good day.

So I went out into the storm and tackled the day, knowing the ice will melt, the problems will be solved and somewhere I'll find warm beaches and gardens to visit. Thank you, Melverdia, you showed me how to have a very good day!