“There is nothing to do here.”
That’s a variation of a statement I’ve either heard or read on social media accounts more times than I can count, but boy, oh, boy, is that a false statement.
This past weekend was nonstop fun for me and my tribe.
After I got off work Friday, me and two of the kiddos headed to Independence to watch the local horse show.
Now I grew up around horses and attending horse shows every weekend. It was a way of life. The team out at Independence has done a great job! The arena, bathrooms, parking around the field…it all looks so wonderful, and it was done by people right here in Tate County.
But let’s not forget, “There is nothing to do here.”
On Saturday, we all loaded up actually headed down to Oxford. We wasted the day away at the arcade. It was a blast and I even managed to use the “claw” machine to earn all the kiddos a big bouncy ball.
Now, I’m fully aware Oxford isn’t in Tate County. I know our tax dollars went to that city for Saturday morning. But…
Saturday evening the boy child and I got dressed and where did we go? Well, I’m glad you wondered. We headed out the door and took a five, yup, five-minute drive to Northwest Mississippi Community College’s Heindl Center for the Performing Arts to see Billy Bob Thornton and The Boxmasters.
So there is some back story here. I made it a mission of mine, to make sure my kids knew “good” music. Every Saturday morning I’d pull out the record player (before it was cool to have one) and play Beatles records as I cooked pancakes. Now neither kid would openly admit it, but because of this both “chill-rens” know the lyrics of just about every Beatles song known to man.
From those Saturday morning listening’s the kids have developed an appreciation of music. Fleetwood Mac, Rolling Stones, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Beach Boys, The Who, The Doors, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Monkees…all the greats, and my kids aged 14 and nine have a working knowledge of songs in their arsenal. So Yeah, the nine year old accompanied me to the concert.
His mind was blown.
Here’s the thing getting back to the original thought “There’s nothing to do here.” Sure there is. There’s plenty to do. There’s plenty to see. There’s plenty to experience. So to those who say there’s nothing to do... Maybe it’s you.
