Michaels Jurmane
Are your ready for an exciting, fun-filled adventure ride? Well this is not your ho-hum, melo-dram but an exhilarating surprise lurking around every turn of the page. Peach Orchard is a cornucopia of thrills touching on all spectrums of the senses. It will make you laugh, you just might cry, you may experience happy times, sad times, or you just might jump out of your seat with wow moments that may leave your jaws on the floor. Peach Orchard is beautiful story about growing up in the community when your neighbors were like family and family was the glue. Travel back in time down the country hillside, along the dusty gravel roads and remember way back when things were much simpler and life more sublime. A time when the connective tissue was strong, where you knew all your kinfolks uncles, aunts, grandma and grandpa, cousins! Reminiscing on a time when many social gatherings were like an everyday all day family reunion. Whether it was visiting grand momma’nem, going to church and being reprimanded by the ushers for chewing gum in the sanctuary, grooving back in the day to those tunes while doing the latest dances at a backyard barbecue, or attending the yearly festivals and having a good time people watching. Even though there may have been many fond memories way back when, not all of them were good. Some of those days were dark, filled with heartache and pain. Times that tested every square inch of the “fortress” walls of the community and at times threatened to crumble the very foundation of the family. Some of the things that happened while young, carved scars so deep that if left debilitating effects on many individuals well into adulthood. It does indeed take a village to raise a child, to protect the mind of the innocent and restore hope that even in the darkest hour there is still light at the end of the tunnel. Explore the many life altering changes through the eyes of a young African-American male by the name Kel who sees firsthand the many trials of life. He witnesses these effects on his life and on those around him. From a violent, abusive dad, to mental illness on family members. Having a wise-cracking, alcoholic but funny aunt to an adulterous, seductive town tramp and her comical beau. This town is filled with characters galore! Yet, it is this wide ranging kaleidoscope of characters that gives this town its luster. Peach Orchard is truly about the people, with all their problems great and small, you will find a way to love them all. People do make the world go around. Through all the many ups and downs, the hurt and the betrayals, and even tragedies the strength of this community will find a way. Today we are experiencing some of the most unprecedented and trying times of our lives. Forced to live in isolation from our family and friends, we are realizing the importance of community and how much we really do rely on each other. Hopefully it’s a lesson in togetherness and hopefully something we will never again take for granted. Peach Orchard is life and life is the journey. So grab your milk and cookies, turn on your light lamps and enjoy a hayride through the countryside. Welcome to the Orchard! 3
