By Rick and Lori Southard
We are Ricky and Lori Southard and we left everyone we loved and everything we knew in California and moved to Knoxville. We, along with our two dogs, moved here in November. It was cold and the once colorful fall trees were now bare.
Everything was wet. And cold.
But it was absolutely beautiful! Our house is older and needed a little work done to it. Most of our belongings were way behind us. But we knew we were home. We made it to our little part of “God’s Country”. We were scared to death yet more excited than at any point of our lives.
Ricky surprised me in August with tickets to the big Tenn-Alabama football game. We decided to make the trip into a house hunting expedition. It was time to make the big move. By the time we sat in Neyland Stadium screaming our hearts out for the Vols in that epic win we were proud homeowners in Halls. We also had made a close, life-long friendship with our Realtor, Ken.
We got here just in time for the big Arctic Chill. That was so fun! More than once I called Rick to tell him to hurry home because there was a “blizzard” headed our way. Then we’d laugh at how much snow actually came. But it was heavenly, and we were so excited. Our little dogs even loved the cold white stuff falling from the sky.
We come from a little farming town in central California called Reedley, 30 miles outside of Fresno in the San Joaquin Valley. It’s called “The Fruit Basket of the World” because just about any kind of fruit or
vegetable is grown there. Farming and agriculture are the way of life there. You get from one town to the next by driving amongst peach, plum, apricot and almond orchards and grape vineyards. It is beautiful in the spring when the trees are in bloom. Orchards of various shades of pink trees are everywhere.
And in the fall, everything turns to orange and gold. It’s beautiful. And some days you feel like you could just reach out and touch the Sierra Nevada Mountains that surrounded us.
But the rest of the year, well, it’s dry and hot. And dead. And hot. To escape the 110-degree summer temperatures we either drove three hours to the beach or two hours to the mountains. It always seemed to be hot!
As we grew older, we had this dream of moving to Tennessee. We had visited several times and were just drawn to it. It’s just beautiful here. It’s a different kind of beautiful than California. The skies are so blue. So clear. The green hills seem to roll on forever. There’s miles and miles of green trees and green grass with wildflowers growing all around.
And don’t get me started on the dogwoods! With daffodils and irises everywhere. Absolutely beautiful. That was a lovely spring surprise. Everyone has plenty of space here, that’s for sure! And it’s amazing that neighbors can get along together with their yards connecting with few fences! There are no 6-foot-high fences keeping neighbors separated like there are in California. Beautiful homes with beautiful green lawns that everyone mows with riding lawn mowers. I think that’s why Rick wanted to move here so bad.
The Lord found us a perfect little home surrounded by perfect neighbors. We have so much fun together. They’ve all been so warm and welcoming from the very beginning, but then again, we are in Tennessee after all.
We enjoy sitting in the backyard listening to Waylon in the evenings together. Or having chats as we mow the lawn.
We’ve only been here about seven months, but we have been busy discovering lots of good restaurants and things to do. We try to go to a new place every week with our neighbors. The places downtown and in Market Square are our favorites so far. There are so many great places!
The town is such a happy place and has great energy. There’s so much to offer compared to back home. And of course, we spent the winter going to Vols basketball games. We’ve really enjoyed living in a college town with lots going on.
Later this summer we look forward to exploring the Smoky Mountains more, and going hiking in Cade’s Cove. We’ve been told that it’s a great place to go bird watching. The birds here are even prettier than the ones back in California. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed discovering new ones in our backyard, along with the squirrels and bunnies.
The people here truly are the kindest, friendliest, most giving people we’ve ever met. It has been truly incredible, and it never stops. Every day we seem to interact with someone who leaves an impact on us, from the parking attendant to the cashier at the grocery store inviting us to church, to the bug guy spraying our home, to the friends Ricky has made at work and the friends we’ve made at church.
It all literally started on the plane ride to Knoxville in August. The people sitting around us all told us of places we needed to visit and do. And things we need to do once we moved here. Every single one said, “Welcome to Tennessee. We are glad to have you here.”
We’ve been drawn to tears many times. We were so worried about what people would think about another couple moving here from California. Oh great.
There is an indescribable beauty and warmth here. A contentment and enjoyment of life. And great pride. People here are just good, decent, giving people. Our brother-in-law Dallas told us when we left California that once we got to Tennessee we’d never want to leave. He was right. We can’t believe this is our home now. We are Tennesseans.
Our only complaint is that we didn’t come here sooner.