I miss the South of my birth and the culture I was born into. Living in the frozen northwest Ive lost much of it in my actions and speech, but not in my heart. Still, I do retain enough for folks around here to say to me you arent from around here are you?. I always reply No Sir, I surely aint. Me and mine are Volunteers originally. And they walk off wondering what in the Sam Hill I am talking about and thinking Im one brick shy of a load and seldom inquire further into my origin. Its sad to me that in his country of ours is becoming homogenized and all the rocks in the stream are being honed and polished to a point where they are all the same, loosing their uniqueness and regional flavor that came from tradition and ancestry. 30 some odd years ago I got a job as a truck driver and started to travel the lower 48. I went everywhere and it was a great adventure. It was also the first time in my life I had been north of the Mason Dixon line. It was enjoyable to here the accents and experience the attitudes of very direct mobbed up New Yorkers. Illinois blue collar normality, the rowdiness of hard partying South Louisiana Cajins, inflated Texas egos, and laid back Califorina coolness and Oregon loggers. I also discovered that you dont have to go very far north or very far west and sweet tea and grits disappear off the face of the planet. But there are other things you can sample. Like TexMex, New England lobster and clam chowder, Pacific coast Asian , Chicago Polish, and a whole plethora of stuff that tasted good but I was afraid to ask what it was. I discovered that iron workers from New York will work you into the ground and then be ready to drink half the night; that the best custom cars and bikes come from California minds; in Pittsburgh PA there a lot of old craftsmen who have extraordinary mechanical skills; you can walk outside your back door in Florida and pick oranges off the tree for breakfast; folks in Maryland and north Virginia have really strange accents and expensive horses; folks in MT are quiet, want to be left alone, and have no idea how to BBQ; cowboys and cowgirls in AZ look like they have been in the sun way too long; there are still thousands of geriatric hippies still hanging in Golden Gate State Park; folks in the Peoples Republic of Boulder Colorado want to rule the world; in Iowa there is more corn than anywhere in the world; and in Virginia….. There is a place there called Colonial Williamsburg that I spent a few days at. You can see the actual buildings where our Founding Fathers hammered out the concepts and structure of this country and watch actors play it out before your eyes. It is inspiring, amazing, and extremely depressing. It shines a huge spotlight on what we were, and what we are now. All in all its a pretty good country. We have a lot to choose from, a lot to be proud of… if we can keep it. But for me, I will always be partial to Dixie.
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 22:51:56 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015