#SmallTownUSA … a new photo linky

We live in a small town.  And by small, I mean, really small.  Not the kind without a stoplight and only dirt roads.  But the kind where everyone is related and  it takes you two years to find a group of friends because everyone has been BFFs since they were together in the nursery … that’s the kind of town we’re in.  People are super kind and will do anything in the world to help you.  You can’t go to the Walmart without seeing at least three or four people you know.  The ball fields are where all the people gather and everyone goes to church somewhere.

I grew up in towns like this.  I went to college in a town like this.  Granted the towns I grew up in were in the middle of wheat fields in Oklahoma not in the middle of cotton fields in Alabama but somehow small towns seem the same, matter what part of the country they’re found.   I have a favorite song right now by Point of Grace.  It’s not really a new song but I love it.  It’s called Hometown {affiliate link} and the first verse and chorus say:

Oh you can see it when you close your eyes

A Norman Rockwell painting come to life

With all the colors of a stained-glass window

All the characters and old dogs and kin folk

And it smells like bar-b-que and old garden roses

Yells like cheerleaders and football coaches

And it walks like a mayor and it dances like a prom

And it sleeps like a porch and it cooks like your mama

 

Hometown, hometown

May be the sweetest word with the sweetest sound.

Hometown.

My love of small towns goes deep.  I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in this.  Somehow that sense of connectedness and belonging we all desire seems personified by Small Town, USA.  Starting tomorrow and then on the first Wednesday of every month, I’m hosting a new linky … Small Town, USA.  It doesn’t matter if you live in a small town or not, share a photo of that small town you drove through on vacation or the sign that welcomes you to a Small Town, population 253.  If you don’t blog, don’t worry!  Link to a photo on your Flickr or Instagram feed.  Let’s celebrate small towns!  I’ll leave the linky up all month so you have plenty of time to find a photo.

I’ll give a prompt but it’s only a suggestion. You share whatever you want!  Here the prompts for the next few months:

• June 5:  Small Town Traditions
• July 3: Small Town Patriotism
• August 7: Small Town Festivals
• September 4: Small Town Sports
• October 2: Small Town Homes
• November 6:  Small Town Foliage
• December 4: Small Town Holidays

Okay, so head back here tomorrow ready to link up your favorite #SmallTownUSA photo.  If you tweet or instagram, please use the hashtag #SmallTownUSA so we can find each other!  Here’s a graphic to help us find each other.  {code for button is in sidebar}

And, because I’m nosy like that, what is the population of your current hometown?