in praise of Mississippi

I'll bet that's not something you hear very often, unless you actually live there. I don't live there anymore--but I used to and both parents and their families (for the most part) are also from there. So though I spent part of my life in/around New Orleans, I am also most definitely part-Mississippian. The particular area I'm talking about is the Mississippi Delta (where the best music EVER came from--in my humble opinion :). The Delta is mostly flat farmland (famous for cotton!) and compared to a lot of the U.S., one doesn't see many places like this anymore:

(farm land and abandoned house outside Tunica, MS)

(abandoned 'downtown' of Duncan, MS)

(the stretch of Highway 61)

('Old Delta Farms' silos on Highway 61)

('Club No Name' in Gunnison, MS)

Sandbar out on the Mighty Mississippi where we spent the day before the Fourth riding in the boat, floating in the water, playing in the sand...I just love a big stretch of nothing.

And where my nephew zonked out for a bit after his first-ever beach trip...

(young cotton)

And a sunset off our balcony. Total soul-healer. Exactly what I needed after finishing the run of the play-- rest, quiet, nature. Crickets! The sound of nothing:

Comments

[Sally Jane]

I didn't realize you were a Southern girl too. I'm Alabama born and raised! These photos made me a bit homesick. There's nothing like the sounds of a hot summer night. Thanks for this!

[mary catherine garrison]

you know--now that you mention it--i am recalling a post you did down in all these Southern homes or something with a beautiful shirt dress? ring a bell? but i had forgotten until your comment and i love to know that!! oh my goodness, the South...the smells, the food, the everthing specificness about it. love it or hate it--it is its own dang wonderful weird thing. that we are by-products of :) and just in case you didn't know--i just edited and uploaded a longer video with all the sounds. i made a mistake earlier and this one is what i intended.... xo :)

[vikkitikkitavi]

Those pictures remind me a bit of Indiana. We didn't have the Mississippi river there, we had the Mississinewa. I grew up playing in that river, back when kids were free to play in rivers and to disappear for a whole day without their mothers calling the police. About a half an hour before sunset, moms would start calling out their back doors for their kids, and no matter whose name we heard called, we all knew that was the signal for all of us to head home. I'm afraid those days are gone forever, not just for me but for all American children. What a shame.

[maggie may]

i love your blog and added your link to my page. i am from Jackson Mississippi - all my family from both sides are from the South...I can't explain the feeling the South gives me, it is like no other

and my name, is Maggie May :) i love your song!

[mary catherine garrison]

i so remember playing outside allllllll day, being hot and sweaty and dirty and making up the weirdest games/things to play because we had to be outside. no video games :) and you know what? i was barefoot all summer and never thought a thing of it...

[mary catherine garrison]

i just went and looked at your blog and i love it too, ms. maggie may! :) (best name ever? yep!)

i know what you mean about the south. it's not talkable. you have to smell it and be there where it makes you slow down. i swear my cells go half-speed once that plane lands...

[Chip Maxey]

Hey Mary Catherine,

I really enjoyed your postings from the "Delta"! My mother was born and raised in Gunnison. We spent every summer in Mississippi and the way you described it was just as I remebered it as a child.

Interesting that you posted those picture on 07-06-2009...my birthday. That would be a one in a 365 chance of that happening...coincidence?

Where did you grow up? You look a little/ lot younger than I am (51...52 in July)

Thanks for the nice ride down memory lane.

Very Best Regards,

Chip