Brutal Days

Well, it's summertime in the South. That means many things. Hot. Hot. Hot days. Humidity. Humidity. Humidity. Afternoon thunderstorms, that do everything but cool down the day. Imagine yourself walking into a sauna wearing a wet electric blanket on its highest setting. Welcome to the Southern summer! Everything, clothing, hair along with every plant is wilted. Every plant that is, but the kudzu vine and the magnolia tree.

Two Southern staples and they thrive in this environment. How do we survive it? Talk slow. Drive fast. Turn the ceiling fans on high. Keep the a/c as low as it can be. Drink as much sweet iced tea as you can. Park as close to the door as you can. Rock in that rocking chair and watch the world go by. Cut back all the kudzu vines, they want to take over. Then sit in the shade of the magnolia tree. Or the mimosa tree, they work just as well.

Whenever summer hits, I ask myself why I want to live here. Want to know the answer? I'd rather be a Southerner than be from anywhere else. So I'll just sip my tea and rock my way through the six months that are summer in the South.

The House That Built Me

Miranda Lambert is one of the many women of Country Music. She represents the Southern women beautifully, through her life and her lyrics. She can be a little raw, but so can we all. Her latest recording has captured my heart and imagination. The name of it is 'The House That Built Me'.

My brother, sister and I were the children of a Southern Baptist Minister of Music. As such, we moved every four years. There have been many houses, communities and churches that 'built' me. Some are treasured, while others... Not so much.

A couple of months ago, my father's oldest sister died. She lived in the Mississippi Delta. You know you're from Mississippi if you know where and what that is! Let me clue the rest of you in, it is the land that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers. Rich farmland due to the flooding of both rivers. This is the land that my father was born on. The tiny communities are the ones he grew up in. This is the land that 'built' him. He made sure that we, as his children, knew this land. We visited his parents, his sister. We attended as many reunions that we could.

Our dog, Poppins, was buried there on the banks of the Sunflower River. My brother and I would bury treasure (junk found in the shed). I wonder if an archaeologist hundreds of years from now would dig up and wonder at our treasure/junk. Here are some pictures I took, recording the landscape and textures of my Delta memories. One of the many places that 'built' me.

The Sunflower River

The drive to my grandparent's house

Melanie or Scarlett?

I'm sure this is true throughout the world, but here in the South, we seem to follow all the usual stereotypes. If you follow the novels, movies and TV, women down here seem to fall into two categories. You are either Melanie or Scarlett. The angel or the demon. Selfless or selfish. Giver or taker. Chaste or harlot. Love of a lifetime or one night stand. What people don't realize, though is that most women hold each one of these inside of us.

A few weeks ago, I watched The Blind Side for the third time. Now, there's a GREAT picture of a Southern woman! She's strong enough to take on a her family, her children's school, the worst part of Memphis and the NCAA! Not to mention her least favorite SEC football team. I have grown up with and known women like Leanne Tuohy my entire life. She is so much bigger than either the Melanie Box or the Scarlett one. To her fans, Laura Bush seemed more like Melanie, but those who hated her didn't. My stance is that she couldn't have survived eight years in the White House without some of that Scarlett survivor in her. Ruth Bell Graham might have seemed more Melanie as such a strong Christian. But the woman who raised all those kids while her husband was preaching the Gospel, had more than enough Scarlett in her.

If you ever want to have a more precise visual of a Southern woman, let me recommend some resources to you. First, Steel Magnolias is a very well rounded picture. The TV series Designing Women shows you our sense of humor along with how we build our friendships. Of course, The Blind Side is now one of my favorites. Try reading Jan Karon's books. She beautifully combines the Southern women with Smoky Mountain women.

Now, I could be wrong about all this, but I am a Southern woman and I have yet to meet any woman who is all Melanie or all Scarlett outside of that great movie, Gone With the Wind. But prove me wrong. I dare you!