Shunning Transience; or, Stayin' Put

That ladder keeps getting shorter. That career ladder I started climbing a few years ago seemed to stretch beyond the clouds and into the stratosphere. Maybe I'd be a college beat writer, then a pro baseball beat writer, and then a features/columnist guy, or Sports Illustrated's next hot writer.

We were in North Carolina for two years, miles from family but as close to the real world as we've ever been. Now we've been here in Tupelo for five-plus years, and I'm not really sure we'll ever leave. Sure, much of it has to do with how much I love working at the Daily Journal, but a lot of it is wanting to give my kids something that a lot of kids don't have: a place they can truly call home.

It seems few people spend their entire childhood in one place, and even fewer come back there to settle down. This area being my home, I feel a strong pull that I loathe to resist. I want my children to have friends they've known ever since they could remember – that's assuming those friends don't move away. I think a homegrown romance is awesome.

Now couples hook up via online dating services, which often means that special someone lives in another city. Real romantic. Your best friend, not a computer, is supposed to set you up with a date.

I guess we think life beyond the town limits is that much better, and maybe it is sometimes. Like that Brooks & Dunn song says, "There's life at both ends of that red dirt road." I believe I like this end of it.

Today's Redneck Moment: My 3-year-old son, Drew, and I watched NASCAR wrecks on YouTube.