I miss Mayberry

Rascal Flatts sings a country song named "I miss Mayberry" that has some great lyrics.  They're lyrics that make you nostalgic for the "good old days".  Now a lot of people reminisce about the good old days and if you ask an old timer, some might tell you that they weren't all that good.  But I don't know, as a 45 year old, I find myself increasingly longing for the simplicity, innocence and pace of those days.

Here are the lyrics to the song I'm talking about.  If you want to hear the song, here is the link: I miss Mayberry - Rascal Flatts

Sometimes it feels like this world
Is spinning faster
Than it did in the old days
So naturally, we have more
Natural disasters
From the strain of a fast pace
Sunday was a day of rest
Now it's one more day for progress
And we can't slow down 'cause
More is best
It's all an endless process

(Well) I miss Mayberry
Sitting on the porch drinking
Ice cold Cherry Coke
Where everything is black and white
Picking on a six string
Where people pass by and you call
Them by their first name
Watching the clouds roll by
Bye, bye

Sometimes I can hear this old
Earth shouting
Through the trees as the wind blows
That's when I climb up here on
This mountain
To look through God's window
Now I can't fly but I got two feet
That get me high up here
Above the noise and city streets
My worries disappear

(Well) I miss Mayberry
Sitting on the porch drinking
Ice cold Cherry Coke
Where everything is black and white
Picking on a six string
Where people pass by and you call
Them by their first name
Watching the clouds roll by
Bye, bye

Sometimes I dream I'm driving
Down an old dirt road
Not even listed on a map
I pass a dad and son carrying a
Fishing pole
But I always wake up every time I try
To turn back

(Well) I miss Mayberry
Sitting on the porch drinking
Ice cold Cherry Coke
Where everything is black and white
Picking on a six string
Where people pass by and you call
Them by their first name
Watching the clouds roll by
Bye, bye

Bye, bye

Now, I know every generation has their problems, it just seems that the pace, pressure, and intensity of things have all increased in my time on this spinning ball.  Is the life we live today truly "progress?"  I am fully aware that the Andy Griffith Show was only a TV show and I'm sure Mayberry had its share of problems or Barney Fife wouldn't have had that bullet for his service revolver in his shirt pocket.

Listen to the song or read the lyrics.  Isn't it true about the pace?  Do you remember when Sunday was a day of rest and all of the stores were closed?  Does anyone even sit on the front porch anymore?  Do we take time to enjoy the simple pleasures in life?  Do we know our neighbors by name?  When's the last time you drove down a dirt road?  Just some simple questions to ponder while walking down memory lane.

A dragonfly (mosquito hawk) on some flowering basil in the garden I saw yesterday

Rascal Flatts, in this song, talks about how in Mayberry everything was either black or white.  It seems these days everything is in varying shades of grey and we're told there is no absolute truth - that everything is relative.  Really?  It seems everything used to be so simple and now, the problems of the world seem so complex and things appear to be spinning out of control.  You can't turn on the TV or radio without being accosted by new things to worry about, fear, stress and pressure.

Maybe this is one of the reasons why I enjoy farming so much.  Dirt roads, simplicity, pastoral landscape, distance from the noise and city, old-time values.  I know things weren't perfect back in the good old days - far from it, but from where I sit, I'd take the 50's or even 1975 over 2012 any old day and twice on Sundays.

You know what?  We don't have to participate in the chaos around us.  We don't have to give in to the worry.  We can form our own little protest, if you will, by heeding the advice of the Apostle Paul:

Romans 12:2

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

 In times like these, we would be well-served to heed the advice of this fellow as well:



Praying Mantis about to eat a mosquito in the back of Russ' truck

Pray hard.  Life is Short.

Thanks for walking with me and Andy and Opie, and Barney, and Aunt Bee down memory lane.  Be careful to step over Otis.  Don't trip on him.  All right now, feel free to whistle the theme song to The Andy Griffith Show now.  You know you're itchin' to do it...