Voices scream outside the door….down the hallway comes smells of Sunday vitals seeping through cracks and crevices……family dinners after a weekly cleansing of  souls……………….

Chicken fried steak…..mashed potatoes and white cream gravy with speckles of black pepper clinging throughout….Turnip greens and hamhocks……salted to taste……Southern soul food….the French never had it so good……

Doors slamming….the heater over-heating…..The glorious sun comes through broken blinds letting us know that life still exists……And those smells……..taking me back…..every Sunday to afternoon naps…..picking tomatoes in a garden……shooting hoops under flood lights high above……high school heroes……Green and Goshen…..

Harmony Grove…..Harmony Grove…..five kids fighting for the last biscuit on the dinner table…..daddy takes all…..Dogs lapping up leftovers…..country talk….small town ways…..Southern ventures……blessings…

It’s a long way from St. Louis to Harmony Grove……..but then again……..anything south of the Western Gate is Arkansas anyway…..