Neon, Hot Chicken and "It": A New Year's Salute to Nashville
You don't have to be staring down the neon pantheon of Lower Broadway in Nashville to know one incontrovertible fact. America's Music City (as country's most powerful radio station calls it) is a funky, bizarre place.
And whether you love country or Anything Else, whether you know where to get original hot chicken or couldn't care less, whether you think we're "It" or all the hype is just nonsense–if you've spent any time here, you've encountered the eccentricities that make our city a place like no other.
Those of us who live here get lots of questions these days from distant friends and family about all things Nashville. In homage to the weird bits I love best, and a few ongoing headaches, I started a series of Facebook mentions about the everyday experiences of Music City life. As a New Year's salute to my adopted metropolis, one of the best places to live on the planet (all kidding aside), I'm sharing a few here that generated the most comments and questions. Enjoy—and come visit!
You're so Nashville++ if:
You can immediately think of a country song featuring the first name of your friend's newborn daughter. Not that they chose it for that reason…but welcome to the world, Baby Ruby, from Kenny Rogers and me.
Your new bank offers the option of a debit card featuring a photo of the Ryman Auditorium. And you take it, and proceed to show it off.
You wait your turn at the Whole Foods salad bar along with Steven Tyler from Aerosmith. And no one around seems to notice or care. (He's a little dude, by the way.)
You're in the TSA line at BNA behind a guy with a guitar strapped to his back. Swear I don't know how they keep their livelihoods from getting smashed on planes. The guitars, I mean.
An informal chat about Thanksgiving plans with neighbors reveals they are traveling to New York for the holiday, to watch their son the country star sing in the Macy's Parade.
Your favorite radio station for the inbound commute offers an ad for a funeral home that will stage services in the garage where the Harley is.
You can hear the bass thumping 19 floors up in your downtown office from the open stage across the street during the annual Country Music Association festival. You tap your feet during your conference call and don't bother to turn off the speakerphone.
You've eaten a great dinner with a friend while watching a long line of people excitedly waiting to take selfies with not Taylor Swift—but her mother. (I, of course, had to ask someone who the woman was.)
You have recently lost a tire to a roofing nail or some other object from a construction site that is not anywhere near your house. It's EVERYWHERE.
You know the genuine honky-tonks on Broadway from the fake ones.
You have gone through the first three names on your list of reliable plumbers, only to discover they are all working in new residential development and unavailable for weeks.
The fill-in assistant teacher in your yoga class is a movie star. In this case, Ashley Judd.
You have fielded requests for restaurant recommendations in Nashville by inbound co-workers or visiting parents of college students six times in the last 30 days.
You know the location of and story behind this reference to the top of region's most famous radio tower: "That's a funny place to build a city."
++Complete credit for the concept "You're So Nashville if…." goes to our excellent alternative weekly, the Nashville Scene, which holds a submission contest annually for similar observations. I've never entered, but obviously love the idea and am a regular reader. if you really want to know what Nashvillians think about Nashville, it's great fun, and you can see the most recent one here.
December 31, 2016 /by G-Ma
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The Lesson of the Angel Tree
It seemed like a such a good idea at the time.
So why was I standing in the aisle at Target, a genuinely clenched knot in my stomach, on the verge of panic? This was a terrible, terrible mistake. I must be an idiot. How can I get out of here without nuclear disaster?
The signal for potentially impending doom came from my 5-year-old grandson, Buddy, who had dropped to his knees in front of a wide shelf of beguiling trinkets at the entrance to the toy aisles, two weeks before Christmas. Presented as potential stocking stuffers, I'm sure, this array included temptations like shark hand-puppets, small footballs with lights inside, miniature Slinkys, and the like. Buddy perused the selection with excruciating longing. Head drooping forward slightly like Charlie Brown in despair, he grasped the shark puppet and said sadly, "I think he would really like one of these." Then, in painful but brave acknowledgement of the objectives and terms of our outing, he says without rancor, "I know we are not getting things for me, but I would like a slinky, some day."
This last bit underscored his mother's success at the promised coaching in advance of this expedition. It was the annual opportunity to shop for a needy child identified by our office's Angel Tree. My hope, which now stared back at me like the Oscar Winner of Dumb Grandmother Ideas, was to make the most of it by bringing Buddy along. First, he could serve as peer consultant, helping select things that a boy his age would truly like; I had selected a tree tag showing the name and clothing sizes of another five-year-old. Second, I hoped to share with Buddy, even at his tender age, the genuine joy of giving back during the holiday season.
Watching this acute desire and Charlie Brown head droop in the face of this massive pile of commercial temptation, I was furious with myself. This was too much to ask, he's too young. He's not going to understand, it's not fair to ask him, he might have a tantrum, and who could blame him? He says he gets it, but his expression says otherwise.
What to do? Bolt now, before it gets worse? Fib a reason to get out of there, like a stomachache on my part, which at this point is not a fib? Before I seize one of these cowardly solutions, Buddy rises to his feet and proceeds deeper into Childhood Nirvana, forward in our shared mission. Deeply unsure of what to do now, as I so often seem to be with these children, I watch, and wait.
And, it immediately does get worse. I follow him to a row of robots, caged in their boxes, eyes bright and forward, just waiting for a small boy to set them free to do whatever small robots do. He stares for a few long seconds, then sorrowfully snares one box, turns, and reaches up to hand it over, admitting, "I KNOW he would really like one of these." He is not tearful, but I sense he is close.
I'm not sure I can take more of this, but reality intervenes. That's really cool, I say of the $89 item, but that's out of our price range, Sweetheart. Remember, we already got him a coat and some clothes. Let's find some other good things, instead.
Perhaps this practicality is liberating—at least he will not have to watch me put it in the car and ponder another child receiving this mesmerizing item—or maybe the heart of a five-year-old runs so much deeper than grown-ups can possibly imagine. Either way, Buddy rallies now. He finishes his selections with careful study and efficiency, but no discernible angst. A large set of Hot Wheels with tracks and a smaller set of Legos (with some super-hero theme) are shoved into the cart, and we start toward checkout. Hugely relieved, ashamed for doubting him, and generally being a doting G-ma, I tell him how proud I am. He has done a great job, and has been a huge help. In appreciation for those things, I suggest he select one item for himself and one for his sister from the stocking-stuffer section, and throw the miniature slinky in for good measure. This accomplished with great excitement, we are off to the car.
Chatting as we head homeward, I decide to affirm the reality of the day with one more fact. He has been learning numbers in kindergarten, has begun to ask questions about money and cost, so I share sums of today's outlay: $139. "Whooooaaaaah," he answers in amazement. "Evie, do you have a lot of money?" I don't, I answer quickly, but I am very fortunate to have steady work, and a nice place to live like your mom and dad have worked hard to have for you and Sis, and enough to eat. And if we are lucky enough to have all those things, we must remember to share with others who don't have everything we have, especially this time of year.
A quick glance in the rear-view mirror reveals he is nodding understanding. And then comes the best proof of how profoundly easy it can be to under-estimate children. And how compassion is native to the human spirit, beginning so early inside little hearts and bodies.
"When I grow up, I hope I have a lot of money," he begins, "and then I could buy them…" He pauses, and I wait for it: The robot? More Hot Wheels? Pokémon? A motorized bike? And I nearly veer the car off the road when he concludes, "I would buy them a home."
And a little child shall lead them. * Peace on Earth to all.
*Isaiah 11:6: The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatted calf together; and a little child shall lead them.
December 18, 2016 /4 Comments/by G-Ma
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