On this day, the air smelled like jasmine. Cattle were roped in a rodeo arena, and a hula-hoop hung from a traffic light.
Lemonade was sold by little girls to raise money for an animal shelter. An AC man said the cost of air conditioners were going up ten percent in May because of tariffs. College students worked on stories about nursing shortages, a baseball field, and how to get cheap beer.
On this day, a husband ate breakfast with his wife and told her that Greenwood feels like home–they should buy a place here. Kids in church clothes played spies and slid down a slide saying, "Off with his head"
and "Into the dungeon."
Gospel music played as a fire engine was washed at station No. 1. Four white-tail deer ran in the woods along the Yazoo River. A wall in Marigold read, "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….”
On this day church bells chimed at noon. Prayer request cards were filled out for the health of a friend named "Stick" and for a daughter's toxic relationship that will "get worse before it gets better."
Crawfish crawled and clawed in a pot. A girl squealed, "Stop that crawfish from looking at me."
On this day, irises bloomed the weekend before Easter, and buttercups bloomed in a Mississippi field.
"Rocky Mountain High" was learned on the guitar. The grass was cut around Dennis Brown's grave. "Never be forgotten" is written by hand on his tombstone.
On this day, a rabbit ran into the woods, and a policeman helped a family of ducks cross an intersection. Baby flounder, croakers, and blue crabs were caught in nets in a class showing the treasures under the surface of Mobile Bay.
A trombone was carried along the highway by a man wearing overalls. Nearby, a woman with a yellow bandana around her long brown hair leaned over and looked at the engine of her black Mustang on the side of the road.
On this day, a boat captain said his boat runs on enthusiasm, then told about the history of the Port of Mobile. A ship was painted gray, and scrap metal was pushed upriver. There were tugboats named Hermes, Gasparilla, and Savannah and a U.S. Naval ship named after Medgar Evers.
On this day, there were two tow trucks: one with "Let's Go Crazy" in purple with the Prince sign and another with puzzle pieces for Autism.
A dad was taken to a memory care home because he can no longer live in assisted living. A corrections officer leaned against a car, talking to her daughter and young granddaughter before she went in for the night shift; she’s been working at Metro Jail for 15 years. A family drove 16 hours from Michigan for spring break with “Sun, shrimp, and shorts. No more snow. “
On this day, a happy birthday banner stretched across the back deck of a trailer, folded chairs leaned against the railing. An Army veteran sat on his front porch and said, “It’s peaceful out here right now, but soon there will be 1500 more houses within five miles.” Two black dogs ran in the road, one with a limp. Red amaryllis bloomed beneath a private property sign while a Doberman barked and spun in circles in the yard nearby.
A mail route ran late. A river rose. Toy dump trucks were left in the sand.
On this day, it rained and rained and rained. A preacher told his congregation to put down their stones because we’ve all sinned.
Brooms, knives, a cat carrier, a Christmas tree, and a bag of garden soil were half-off on the last day of an estate sale. There were hats: Alabama and Army Veteran.
On this day, a nineteenth birthday was celebrated by seeing the ship her ballerina grandmother took to America. A husband adjusted his wife’s hearing aid. Writers talked about hooks, plot twists, and keeping the reader hungry
An ice cream shop opened, and America the Beautiful was played at the end of a protest. Auburn fans watched the game at an Irish pub. High school students in prom dresses and tuxes took pictures on Palafox Street.
On this day, first, second, and third-place ribbons were pinned on athletes, and arms were raised on podiums. Wheelchairs were pushed, and parents cheered. A principal asked, "Were you nervous?" An announcer said, "You were born ready." A runner ran so hard that his shoes popped off. Special Olympics t-shirts read: "Let's root for each other", "I'm One in a Minion" and "Dad of Two Autistic Warriors."
Visitors stopped to see the USS United States ship at the port of Mobile. One had a shark's mouth tattoo around her elbow. Another had a "Real Life Mermaid" sticker on the truck she bought when she sold her house; she once welded ships and made salvage dives for the Army. She called herself "a five jump chump that only made four.”
On this day, Cold AC was written on a truck for sale. A skeleton waved from the front of a Jeep. Stories were told about becoming homeless because of long COVID and repairing electrical equipment in a war many pushed aside. A van was given to a mom who completed a homeless program.
White tung tree blossoms with pink throats covered the ground. Jason Isbell talked about decisions that led him to peace.
On this day, a cardinal sang on a power line-red body against the blue sky. Mosquitoes and snakes returned, and pollen was swept from porch screens. A bike with a tire pump on the front and a duct-taped seat leaned against an interstate median, and a gold hoverboard was left at a park.
Human clothes and puppets were loaded into a theater for a Sesame Street show.
A bike was pulled from the back of a truck, and hands were held as a street was crossed. A dog named Gorgy waited outside a bookstore, and a smaller dog was pushed in a baby carriage.
Little girls in leotards licked ice cream cones. Friends from Montgomery looked for stores with "my name on them.” A young transplant survivor was on a day trip. She waited seven years for a liver and received it in February. She lost forty pounds of fluid and is ready to run again.
A daily reading was: Art is what you leave out.
All on this day.
On this day, sisters cartwheeled on the beach, and William Faulkner was quoted: "History is not was, it is." A community donated to help a local coach and a baseball player went 4-4 in his second game in the major leagues.
“We looked for where the Viet Cong fired rockets, but those were big mountains,” said Morris. “Sometimes we were so close to the other side that we could hear their radio or them talking at night. I kept thinking this was unbelievable.” Skeeter Morris
On this day, a homeless man looked at his reflection in a coffee shop window, running his fingers through his beard. A young woman prepared to move to the downtown where "Happiness blooms from within" is painted on a storefront. A white cane swept back and forth across the sidewalk as a man walked with his dog, and a giant rocking chair named Goliath was covered in shamrocks and green tinsel.
A family placed flowers by a roadside cross, roosters stepped through a flooded field, and lightning streaked across the sky from a thunderstorm many miles away.
On this day, a white '57 Bel Aire with a red interior and "57 Kool" on the tag was hauled across Alabama. The owner said the car ran like new as he stopped to get gas and relief from his sciatica. A cup of grapes was dropped and left on a gas station floor, and the parking lot was full at the Funderdome skating rink.
A bike wobbled on the shoulder of a highway–the rider wore a shirt that read "Slay all day.” Cars from Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Tennessee packed with bags and beach gear drove north. A car broke down on the side of the road; the passengers had York Family on their shirts. Further up the interstate, a driver walked away from his car as dark gray smoke rose from the engine. Flaming pieces dropped to the ground.
“Some guys didn't like to go on alert because it was more risky than the average bombing of the jungle. There were bad guys down there who wanted to kill us. We had to kill them first.”
Gen. Guy Hecker
On this day, clothes hung on the lawn to dry. One shirt read, "The nightmare isn't over." Children dressed as spaceships or stars and listened to stories on an out-of0-this-world literacy day. Coffee was sold from a shipping container–a business project started by a mom for her home-schooled kids.
Two women talked about turning fifty, losing their parents, and feeling like orphans.
Crowns were worn and My Sharona was played as a whole town danced to an 80s cover band. All on this day.
