AD HOC: Back Home

Technically, I'm not from southwest Missouri. I'm from northwest Ohio, born and raised. But when someone asks me, "Where are you from?" and I'm sitting in my City or the Bay Area, I say, "Southwest Missouri." (Digression: If I'm visiting my brother and someone asks, I say, "San Francisco." It was kind of cool when we were in Vegas and the two hick kids from Ohio got to answer the question, "San Francisco and San Diego." We've come a long way, bay-bee.)

These days my Facebook feed looks more like a news ticker on CNN than shout-out page. I have feeds from all of my artsy-fartsy corporate sites, and then stuff from the Giants, and then feeds from the Bryan Times (of Bryan, Ohio, my hometown) and the Springfield News-Leader (from Springfield, Missouri, my college town). Last night around 6-ish the News-Leader was dropping FB feeds like bombs--feeds about how Joplin, Missouri (a town about 45 minutes from Springfield) was decimated by a tornado. One of the tornado's primary targets was St. John's, a branch of one of two healthcare facilities based out of Springfield. I was talking to a friend in Springfield on text message at the time and he said they were waiting to see if it would hit Springfield. Later, he let me know they were in the all-clear.

I've only been to/through Joplin three times: once to visit the Precious Moments Chapel back in the 90's when I first moved to Missouri, once at three o'clock in the morning driving a friend to Waggoner, Oklahoma, and once in July of 2004, on my way west to California. It doesn't stand out all that much from southwest Missouri in general for me, but to see what it looks like this morning reminds me of many times in my mind I've mentally said goodbye to parts of that time in my life, by force or by choice. Do I miss Missouri? Sometimes:

• The food. Good burgers, barbecue, frozen custard.
• I miss the Mudhouse, a coffee shop downtown. I'm afraid to check and see if it's still in business after seven years out.
• I miss green. I miss shade. I miss trees.
• I miss my last apartment. A minor league ballpark was in the backyard and I had a balcony. I raised herbs, flowers. I had a hammock chair.
• I miss the way no one had a southern accent until you drove to south or north out of town.
• I miss my college and my literature professors.
• I miss my friends.

But...other times:

• I'm Unitarian. Try that in southwest Missouri, land of Assembly of God, and see how far that takes you.
• I left there making $22k a year. I started here in CA at $45k a year. And I split rent with my brother.
• Fresh produce in Missouri? Fogettaboutit. And avocados are a memory.
• Humidity. Walk into an oven and drape a hot, wet towel around your head and cinch it at your neck. 'Nuff said.
• Ice storms.
• Tornados...particularly at dark.

I don't mind tornados during the day--I can see them. But tornados in the dark, well, that's like shaking your house for no reason, kind of like an...um...EARTHQUAKE.

My fellow Ozarkians...my heart goes out to you.

Onward, dear reader.