Too poor to paint, too proud to whitewash (1.19.06)

Has anyone else ever heard that saying? I can remember the exact day I heard my mother say that to me - we were in Macon, Georgia, passing by a beautiful antebellum home that needed some work. The paint was peeling, and it just looked awful. Still majestic and an amazing architectural feat, but without any upkeep. And my mother said - more to herself than to me, "Too poor to paint, too proud to whitewash..." And I have never forgotten that. It wasn't something that my mother even probably thought twice about, and of all the wise things she has said to me, I have no idea why I remember that, but I do. And it is one of the millions of things people have said or done to me, with me and around me that have shaped who I am.
Now part of this is being Southern. Southern people - especially women - have a saying for everything. And sometimes they make absolutely no sense in the modern world...yet we perpetuate them anyway. It's part of that fabric that makes a certain region what it is. And the South (yes, I'm biased) is by far the most romantic and mystical region in the world. The soft seasons, the strong people, the molasses-thick accents, the hardcore religon, the even more hardcore drinking, the "bless your heart"s, the football, the food... I love it.
A friend asked me last night if I were to get a tattoo, what would I get. I think this was supposed to be a finger on the temple...let me see kind of question, but I knew immediately. I knew because I have toyed with the idea of getting a tattoo forever - just too chicken to do it. I would get a peach. A Georgia peach. My family has been here forever, and I seem not to be able to leave this great state...so a peach it would be.
This is a really random post - forgive my ramblings... Just some things I wanted to get down. Don't ever find yourself in a position where you're too poor to paint but too proud to whitewash.