Talk and Tales from Coco, Optimist in Charge at The Shiny Butter Blog
Shiny greetings, Reader,
I took a long country drive the other week to pick up something two and a half hours away.
It was one of the hottest days lately. Even with a/c in the car it was rough out there.
But I loved it.
That's because I love driving through the countryside in eastern North Carolina and look forward to every opportunity. Give me a local road over a bypass any day.
I love seeing tobacco barns, bigger barns, tobacco fields, and cotton fields.
I love the shady dip in the road every time I cross yet another eastern NC swamp.
I love old cemeteries and old headstones, gnarly tree roots, and Spanish moss.
I love seeing roadside grills, and love pulling up to a four-way stop surrounded by high corn stalks.
I love little towns with just a few buildings, and curiously named stop-in-the-road towns called things like "Pitch Kettle" and "Dudley's Crossroad."
I love seeing fields of sunflowers and wildflowers, grove after grove of pine trees, a lone chimney among a grove of ancient pecan trees, and I love encountering giant farm equipment on the road.
I love that this is not the fast life I'm driving through.
But that doesn't mean it's slow.
It feels just right to not always drive like a crazy person from one place to the next.
I try to relax, even when I'm actually in a hurry.
And rather than fret when I'm at a light, or waiting for a train, or sitting in traffic, I look around. I daydream a bit, and notice things I wouldn't have seen otherwise.
These days I intentionally try to expand my mind rather than contract it, because there's so much going on in the world and in our lives that makes us retreat and contract!
So I hope you've enjoyed these photos and have enjoyed looking around with me.
Remember to give yourself permission to relax and look around some, even while you're busy.
Thanks so much for being here with me
Stay peaceful, stay curious, and be kind.
And shine on, my friend,
Coco
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My aim in all my writing is to be as real, human, and fully alive as possible—and to share my very real, human, fully alive experience with my readers.
[Also, as of 5/6/25 all photos are my own (not stock) unless otherwise stated.]
