Phillip Burgess

Rural Route Four Phillip Burgess

Rural Route Four is a mail route that serves folks living in the small community of Needmore, Alabama, in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. But it's much more. It's where generation after generation lives a simple life where the work is hard and days are long.

Dirt roads there lead to small farms where corn and cotton grow in long, winding rows. It's where folks sit under oak trees in the backyard after supper and talk about the news of the day.

It's home to a rambunctious boy who wanders its forests with his dogs, Pup, Prissy, and Pedro. It's where the barn loft magically becomes a fort, where the farmers gather at Rip's Needmore Grocery to share tall tales, and where the watermelons are sweet and plentiful.

Life on Rural Route Four makes for intriguing stories. And the boy who lived there, now retired after a career in media and public relations, fondly recalls the stories of his youth.

In Rural Route Four: The Good Ol' Days Were Never Better, he sews together his memories into a quilt of his life.

Pour yourself a tall glass of sweet tea, relax, and take a trip to Rural Route Four. You'll enjoy it!