Southern Winds

I was feeling the south today.. My southern spirit calling me as it does every so often. Typically this time of the year I would be driving through backroads, small towns and beautiful country sides somewhere between Mt. Pleasant, Texas and Atlanta, Georgia, taking the longest route I could find. Living out of a suitcase for three weeks is the best kind of fun. Capturing images along the way and playing music reminiscent of what I was jamming off of this morning... good old delta blues music. I had to postpone my trip due to family illness and financial struggles.. hard times hit hard but it don't take away happiness or the drive to reclaim what was lost.
This morning after I experimented and discovered something delicious to eat, I picked up my dobro guitar and started making up some funky but delta blues inspired jams. It was fun. I stopped only to dip the piping hot sweet potato biscuits that I made into some maple syrup.. The taste was heavenly! The southern wind blew in again.. I strummed a few more chords. I could visualize my grandmother hanging clothes out to dry on the farm in Mt. Pleasant. I could visualize a few years ago when I drove down a lonely road in Arkansas. All the trees were different colors; a lot of bright reds, yellows, browns, paprika, light green... I couldn't believe my eyes. I'd never experienced fall colors like that before in my life. I stopped at a small store. Inside were people with seriously southern accents. I was greeted with stares from some and friendly head nods from others. There was positive and negative tension flowing through the air but me? I loved everything about it. As I've expressed many times, I'm always wishing I could travel back in time and that's exactly what it felt like when I stepped inside this store. When I stepped outside, I heard some hip hop blasting from a pickup truck; a reminder that I was still in these times...

I strummed some more chords and beat a little funky rhythm simultaneously... I remembered my mother pulling fresh water out of a well and preparing a bath for me as we adjusted for a couple weeks of living in the country. No running water, no bathroom no toilet.. Only one very small black and white television in my grandparents bedroom. Had to rely on what was called a "transistor radio," which only seemed to pick up country music stations and very passionate church services; preacher always hollering and others shouting in the background; gospel music sounding both eerie and celebratory...

I strummed some more, simultaneously playing a melody on the high E string... I remembered walking thru an old cemetery in the middle of town in Savannah, Georgia. The spanish moss hung low from trees. I reached and grabbed some of it. The first time I noticed a huge spider crawling up the first hand full that I grabbed. I quickly dropped it. I grabbed another hand full and placed it inside a paper bag that had a couple souvenirs inside. I picked up my camera, took pictures and walked around the cemetery. When I got to the other side, I'd realized I left the bag on a bench. I went back. The bag wasn't on the bench but instead appeared to have fallen underneath. All the contents had fallen out but I didn't see the spanish moss... I picked up my magnets and ceramic coasters, took a few more pictures and then went back to my not so comfortable hotel room. The hotel was really weird because the rooms had no windows and at the time I checked in, I was desperate to find a place to sleep so I wasn't choosy. I stopped at the first place I could find. It was strange how a lot seemed to be going on outside. All I could do was either listen to what was going on outside or turn up the volume on the television to drown it out. The outside seemed more entertaining. I had used up all the film on my camera so I was looking forward to seeing the images. When I made it to Atlanta, I had the pictures developed since I had time to wait and was planning to stay for a couple days. Crazy thing happened... there were no images whatsoever on the film...

I strummed some more.. ate more biscuits... The wind was howling, memories flowing fast.. I could go on forever.. The images blowing across my mind like a warm southern wind in Mississippi... I can see the highway... that's where I belong; where I wish I was right now...