Hill Country Living
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By Coulter Fussell
My daily Facebook Memory popped up today and apparently back in 2012 I felt the need to publicly observe that Water Valley was very, very hot. In the same post, I also declared that Main Street smelled like “asphalt, fajitas and spent firecrackers.” Well, here we are…12 years later and nothing has changed. Now, don’t get me wrong, I believe in a climate crisis but I also believe myself from 2012. It was hot then. It’s hot now.
The main difference I notice between then and now is Main Street doesn’t smell like fajitas until you get past the car wash because in the past 12 years El Charrito has moved over by the Crawdad Hole.
These days, the central area of Main Street smells like the Sprint Mart fryer basket. Sort of a La-Croix-flavor-level wisp of bloomin’ Onion permeates the downtown air even though I don’t think they even make bloomin’ onions at Sprint Mart. I know several people who would love it if they did so there’s a free business idea for you, Sprint Mart.
These are the beginning days of the long, miserably hot and slow season. There’s not a lot to do or report because it’s too hot to fish and the yard plants are drying up. The most exciting happening in my world is a little nest of baby birds situated on the inside top shelf of one of my porch columns.
The little chicks grow cuter every day. Admittedly, it’s impossible for them not to grow cuter everyday considering baby birds are so innately ugly. There’s nowhere for them to go but up insofar as the looks department.
In the learning-to-fly department, though, going up isn’t the only option. All day/ every day my outside cat Janet waits patiently at the bottom of the column, flicking her tail. She’s so casual about it; relaxed and self-assured in the atrocities she clearly plans to commit. The day will come when it all culminates in a dramatic slaughter and there’s not a lot I can do about it.
So, I’ve turned to being nosey instead as that’s a fulfilling activity one can do indoors. The situation with the old Holley Carburetor Plant lawsuit has really intrigued me and obviously I’m not alone. As someone who wasn’t born in Water Valley and isn’t always privy to the old school details on any given local situation, I will say that I’ve heard about this thing for years but didn’t exactly know what was going on. All I knew was that something about the water was messed up south of town and that it went way back, time-wise. And I guess that was close to exactly right.
I’m glad to have it all explained out clearly, so far. I’m also glad to be extra reassured by trusted sources that the water in Water Valley proper is good. But, man don’t accidentally and innocently watch that 2019 movie “Dark Waters” during the middle of all this like I did. It’ll get your blood pressure up.
Lastly, I hope everyone has a fun and safe Fourth of July weekend! Eat all the watermelons, jump off all the pontoon boats and shoot all the firecrackers!
