On Leaving Nashvegas---It was hard. Damn hard! I miss it like crazy. I took a job in Georgia. I work at that large psych facility where I did my music therapy internship. So I am back in Milledgeville. It's all good. But Gosh, I miss Music City and Long, Green, Tennessee.
Singer and songwriter Matraca Berg penned a lovely, moving homage to the Cumberland River, which meanders through Nashville. Last night I sang and played in on my guitar. I couldn't get through it. I was in Nashville a year. During that year it bacame my home. I wish there were a way to work here and live there.
Milledgeville is a nice little town. I was very happy here. I know I will be again. But Music City still calls. I miss lots of things: Hillsborough Village with its Fido; just happens to be the coolest, hippest coffee house on the planet. The Farmer's Market. If you can't buy it there, it can't be had. The Farmer's Market also has a food court where you can get food from all over the world: Jamaican, Greek, Mexican, Cajun, Asian, Soul food. Just pick one. You can't go wrong. I miss the parks. Somehow they stay lovely and green even in summer. Then there is the Frist Center, a world class art museum. And of course, there is the music. Live music every night everywhere! Country, bluegrass, jazz, blues, and the fastest growing regional symphony orchestra in the country. You can saturate yourself in it. It's a musician's paradise. Then there is the Belcourt, a true art movie house. Then there is the shopping. And independent book stores. Who in their right mind would leave?
Sometimes you do what you have to do. If I had turned down the opportunity to come back to Milledgeville to work I would have always regretted that I didn't take a risk. My work here will be challenging and rewarding. I have friends here. There are music opportunities here. My three cats and I are determined to make a life here, even though my apartment is much smaller and doesn't have a dishwasher! But there is cheesecake. Goodie Gallery, a local bakery and eatery offers a cheesecake that sets the standard for all others. I guess a I can make a sacrifice or two for cheesecake. But I look around me and long to see my heels kick up the hillbilly dust as I walk down Broadway, Nashville's downtown thoroughfare. I long to stand in front of the Ryman Auditorium on a February Saturday night and listen to the sounds of the Grand Ole Opry wafting to the street.
Oh, Cumberland,
I'm your faithful son,
No matter where I run,
I hear you callin' me;

The Mississippi is wide and long,
From St. Paul to New Orleans.
But my heart's restin' on your banks
In Tennessee.
My heart is too full to say anymore.