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Thursday, August 4, 2011

Headed south y'all

I am as Midwestern as they come. I live on flat prairie surrounded by corn, beans, and wheat fields. I swim in the Great Lakes. I am a fan of major league teams that never seem to have a winning season, but always hope for next year. I know what it means to be roasted to death in August only to be blown into my car by a below zero wind in January. I've seen tornadoes and blizzards. In one calendar year. I have no accent.


Yet, in my secret fantasies I have dreamed about being Southern my entire life. Well, maybe not since birth, but close. I think with a Southern accent a lot. I collect books set in the South. When I taught High School American Literature, I did an entire unit on Southern Writers. I like to use y'all. I told my husband that if we ever moved South, I would adopt an accent immediately. Sweet tea, butter, and pimento cheese are my three favorite things ever.


So it serves to reason we have vacationed south of the Mason Dixon line each year of our marriage. Usually at the beach, but in the South nonetheless. I love it. This year, we headed to the mountains of Western North Carolina. Secretly I had a little bit of trepidation on this, as there wasn't sand and saltwater. But upon arrival, I peered at the view and exhaled that woody air. I had arrived home. The South. It was perfection. Here is what the view off our porch looked like:







See, divine, right? Of course our rental was on a winding, rocky, dirt road (which was awesome). We had no cell signal (which was also awesome). I will have several posts for y'all over the next several days about the trip, Black Mountain, Asheville, the house, and my sabbatical from social media. I figure this is a great way to ease back into my hectic school year. Reliving my blissful vacation. In the land of sweet tea, honeyed voices, and balmy air. Until tomorrow y'all!




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