The Marks Post: It’s good to be home

I was in Tampa, Fla., for most of last week for SEC Media Days and had a great time.
I sat in for pretty much all of the coaches’ press conferences. My favorite ones were Jon Sumrall, from Florida, and Pete Golding, from Ole Miss. Both coaches were animated and dropped some choice words. Lane Kiffin, from LSU, was pretty anti-climatic. That was a little expected though because he was being shielded from media scrutiny. I even asked Jeff Lebby, from Mississippi State, a question about his team playing LSU for the first time in several years.
Outside of the press conferences, there was a firework show on the water and media parties at the Tampa Bay Lightning and Tampa Bay Buccaneers stadiums. A couple of us even snuck across the bay to a minor league baseball game for Dollar Dog Night. Karaoke was also sung, albeit badly. I doubt the video of my performance will go viral on TikTok or Instagram.
Anyway, there is one part of the trip I want to focus on. I found a daily Mass at noon at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, in downtown Tampa, and walking distance from the media days hotel. So, everyday I walked several blocks and went to Mass. The church was actually a Franciscan parish, so that was pretty cool.
The Gospel on that Monday was the one where the Pharisees asked Jesus for a sign. How often are we like the Pharisees and ask for a sign as well? But, sometimes, God gives us a sign without us asking for it.
After Mass on that Monday, I started walking back to the hotel and saw a street sign for East Washington Street. It immediately hit me as a sign. I live on East Washington Street here in Ville Platte and normally attend Mass at Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church. To me, it was a sign that I am where God wants me to be at this point in my life and am doing what He willed me to do.
Ok, it may be a stretch. But, I’ll hammer the point home with this.
My flight landed in Lafayette about midnight last Thursday. When I got in my car to drive home, I cranked up my baseball playlist on Apple CarPlay to help me stay awake. The first song that played was “Un autre soir d’ennui (Another Lonely Night),” by Belton Richard. Then, right when I got into Ville Platte, the Geno Delafose version of “Promised Land” played. The thing about that is the Johnnie Allan version of “Promised Land” played right before that. I took it as another sign.
Backing up a bit, on the flight back from Tampa to Dallas, I caught a distinct whiff of rice and gravy and got hungry for a good plate lunch. I hope that isn’t a sign that I have a brain tumor. Anyway, on Friday, I went get me a plate lunch of shrimp etoufee and tore it up.
It’s good to go places and see different things, but it’s good to be home.