WHISTLE STOP

The water tower is dry and one business, the bank is still in business on the square. Hickory, Mississippi was never a "Destination" but it must have been busy, at least, once upon a time. If you pay attention, there are tell-tale signs that people come and go, still care. The lawn in the middle of the square is groomed and the parking lot at the Baptist church is freshly sealed. Unoccupied store fronts around the square have dusty, dirty windows but sun faded, pastel paint on their brick fronts leave not a clue to their stories. Clean, well kept homes nest under great old trees while just down the street, abandoned houses with darkened windows sag under the weight of kudzu vines and long fallen tree limbs. There is a small furniture show room just off the square and trains come through several times a day but they don’t stop. There was a time when Hickory was a Whistle Stop town but it’s all freight now and they pass through without slowing down. Once a few years ago, on the siding by the square, they parked two engines, engines idling there for several days. 

I’m in Hickory for the long weekend. The 4th of July here yesterday; there were a few fire crackers but it was celebrated more profoundly by woodpeckers drumming in the afternoon, horn blaring trains rumbling through town and the clanging-flashing crossing guard at the Main St. crossing. My friend has a house here. She bought it as a retreat, a place to get away, to go when hurricanes threatened her home in New Orleans. Now she’s put it on the market. We are scraping and painting, trying to improve the curb appeal. The wasps that live in the eaves don’t like us but the mosquitoes do. The house is over 100 years old, built by the town doctor. The sunroom was his reception area and he saw patients in what is now the living room; in through the side door and out the front. If you need a doctor now, her office is out on the old highway to Meridian. If you really need civilization, it’s a good 5 minutes out to the Interstate and another 20 minutes to Meridian with an air port, national guard armory, box stores, shopping malls and connections to Hattiesburg, Mississippi and Birmingham, Alabama. 

Go the other way and it’s only 10 minutes to Newton, Mississippi where they have stop lights and a Wal*Mart. But then, who needs Wal*Mart? Up on the highway, across from the Dr.’s office is a new building with a yellow and black sign - DOLLAR GENERAL. It’s what Wal*Mart used to be; a place to get whatever you need, at a low price. It’s where you find the locals. I’ve been there 4 times in 3 days and there has always been a line at the checkout. You can get yogurt, bug spray, paint, kids underwear, soft drinks, laundry detergent and things you didn’t know you needed. 

Hickory is not unique. Wherever Interstates bypass small towns, the culture changes. Little villages wither away and their stories with them. But I know Hickory and the stories that I’ve missed here are irreplaceable. I’ll just have to make up a few, maybe start up at Dollar General.