Am I famous?

Tonight I met a lady from the great state of Virginia. (Isn't that the best name for a state ever??!!!) She just arrived here and will work for a day and a half and have half a day to play. She was asking someone about places to see while she is here. Since I have no qualms at all about butting into others conversations, I jumped in and mentioned a place. It had of course already been suggested. Then she looks at me and says,

"Are you famous?" I've been dying for someone to ask me that for my whole life. And finally she did. Pointing at myself, I asked "Am I famous?" I was, of course, thinking of the times I've been interviewed on the radio and of the psa spot I recorded. I've heard that aired a lot. I thought maybe she had been surfing Christian radio stations in the back of beyond, found the one dear man works for and heard my voice. I also thought of the articles I've written for Cross-Times. I thought maybe she might have recognized my picture. Okay that took all of ...oh who cares how many seconds to realize I didn't have a picture in my byline.

I totally missed her question. You see I don't live in the south or on the coast. I live in the middle somewhere and we say "you guys" in referring to more than one person. I understand "y'all" just fine. But when someone looks at me and says "are you...." I kinda tend to think they are talking about me specifically.

She wasn't. She wanted to know if my town/area was famous for anything. Did we manufacture anything? I wanted to say "Cow poo" but I didn't think that would paint us in the best light. So instead I said "sugar beets". I know we don't manufacture those but we do have a sugar beet factory. We ...errrr someone takes sugar beets and turns them into...sugar. (of all things.)

She said she likes to pick up little souvenirs from each place she goes, something that is indigenous to that area. I honestly thought, "then honey, you need to come back in the Fall. That is when you'll find a million sugar beets lining the highway. You could just stop and pick one or fifty up for free."

There may not be a whole lot to look at or do here. We might not be famous for anything. And we might not manufacture anything except stinky feedlot air. But this is home. A place I love. And to me, it is the most beautiful place on earth.