Philo, not to be confused with Filo Dough

Philo is a little bit country, which was a nice change of scenery from New York. Not that I didn't like New York in its city-ness, but contrast is always beneficial. It makes me think, anyway.

Here's what I thought: I love Illinois. Now considering I've loved just about every place I've been, I realize I'm not making a head-turning announcement. "No, you mean she loves another place," you say. I sense your sarcastic whispers. No whispering on my parade, please. I've decided I'm just a very open individual, hence my love for all places. The good thing though is that I love these places in different ways, for different reasons. And I think that's what needs to be judged, especially if I'm going to be re-locating to any of these places, which is very much an option at this point.

I loved New York for it's limitless-ness. There was always something to do, somewhere to be taken to. But for the same reason I love things, I also dislike them. If I ever just wanted to stay in and read, I almost felt guilty, like, "Geez, I should be out doing something cultural."

However, I'm discovering that same thing can happen even in the country. I thought things would slow down in Philo, but boy, was I wrong, wrong, wrong. Philo was limitless in its landscape. The corn and soybean fields and the sky went on forever. There were so many little towns and parks and nature to see. We droved, strolled and hiked (although when a trail in Illinois said rugged, it means long, not rugged). We pet the horses. Saw a snake. Tried not to disturb a beehive being buzzed around by billions of bees. Squirrels like I've never seen. Rabbits. Mourning doves. Red-winged black birds. Fireflies. Full and low, lava-glowing moons. It was enough to make me cry, more than once.

And I should have never ate that chili-cheese dog on Coney Island. Since then, I've eaten steak and cornbeef and turkey. I'm not a vegetarian, but I eat little enough meat to make me feel guilty if I don't confess my recent trend in meat consumption. There, I'm purged. I blame it to not wanting to be rude when meat is one of the only things offered, and not wanting to explain, "Well, no, I'm not a vegetarian, I just don't eat a lot of meat. Why? Well, because, there's the health and environmental issues..." What an un-fun explanation, especially to someone of the older generation (crusty old bastards, as Melissa calls them). But I'm really lying here, if I don't admit that I love every cooked ounce of it. I forgot how good and filling it is, which means I'm probably going to continue being sinful. Hopefully, I'll start sinning in better moderation. I'll keep you updated.

Enough about me. Back to Philo. I stayed with Danielle and her grandfather. We got her grandfather drunk the night I arrived, so he says and sung all evening, "I had me a little drink about an hour ago." Although, he only had one glass of wine, so I think he was pulling our leg about the "drunk" part. He took us to a rodeo the last night we were there, in which there were many contestants from Arkansas, even two from Perryville (a Josh and a Jeff, I think). Enough to almost make me homesick. Especially those fireflies. Although, I prefer to say lightning bugs. What do you call 'em?