Yesterday I drove through Mississippi from Natchez to the outskirts of Memphis, first on the Natchez Trace-- which seemed like a low-rent version of The Blue Ridge Parkway-- and then on Highway 61, the so-called Blues Highway, through the Mississippi Delta. I found Mississippi (the State, not the River) to be boring, shabby, although it certainly didn't seem to reflect the mythical poverty I had expected. The really unpleasant surprise was that the people I encountered were, for the most part, sullen and vaguely disagreeable. The famed legendary Southern hospitality and courtesy, you ask ... probably gone with all of the other accouterments of a South. that may or may not have existed in the cultural consciousness of people of a certain age. Parenthetically, I don't recall speaking to anyone here in this region who spoke in anything other than completely unaccented standard American (TV) dialect. Well... one minor exception. When I told a housekeeper at a motel that I was checking out suggested that she have a good day, she replied "you'all take care now, Baby", which I thought was a nice touch (by the way, this occurred in Louisiana not Mississippi).
Wending my way through the Cradle of the Confederacy, as Paul Simon put it in
Graceland, was a big part of my plan for this trip. Excluding the unusually charming and interesting little town of Port Gibson, MS there was very little of note to photograph yesterday. I've decided, therefore, to make a dash for home. No more secondary highways and country roads-- it's Interstate all the way for here on. Once again, some song lyrics come to mind:
"If that train runs right, I'll be home by Saturday 900 miles from my home... and I hate to hear that lonesome whistle blow."
Well, actually it's a Toyota minivan, not a train, and closer to 500 miles, and it will be Sunday night... and train whistles, lonesome or otherwise, are just fine by me; but, what the hell, we have to make allowances for Art's sake.
I intend to work hard at making blog entries (
ie, deliver on the promises I've been made in the candor department) once I get settled at home. I hope that you'll come back.
Byron
This comment is an example of my usual relationship to timeliness: I become aware and start to plug in just as everyone else is starting to head home. I only learned about your trip when I called to ask about Charlie the other day. Pearl – who of course has been corresponding with you, and seems to know what everyone is doing, as usual – just forwarded your blog link.
ReplyDeleteI evidently haven’t missed the party entirely. I’m glad to read that you’ll start posting images once you can work in earnest back in LaCrosse. I really do look forward to seeing America as you encountered it.
Forty years ago, I would have nominated myself as the most (actually, only) likely artist within our gene pool. So I’m always knocked out (and still a bit surprised) by the strength and beauty of the images that you and Mel regularly create. Where does that come from?, I ask myself. The expressiveness, skills that you’ve acquired, and seriousness of purpose always fill me with admiration and big brotherly pride.
Reading your Paul Simon reference, I've been meaning to ask you - what's the soundtrack of this journey?
ReplyDeleteSheldon and Hila: Thanks for your comments. It's nice to know that someone is reading this blog and even better that there are readers who take the time to comment.
ReplyDeleteByron