Mississippi Bound

Friday, June 26, 2009

Just 8 days till we head out on the motorcycle for our first look at Jackson, Mississippi. Arlo (not my husband's real name--I changed it to protect his good name) and I have been doing research on Mississippi and I really want to like Mississippi. Working on my genealogy (a big thing in the South) I have discovered one line on my dad’s side that had several direct ancestors who were either born or died in Mississippi. My great grandfather was born in Sunflower County and that name itself makes me like the place. (I'm imagining sunflowers growing up to the sky with big beautiful blossoms of full golden petals and centers full of seeds.) His grandparents both died and were buried in Itawamba County (now Lee County) Mississippi. Lee County is where Tupelo, childhood home of Elvis Presley, is located. I’m grasping here at some sort of connection, but these airy illusory tendrils make it interesting. Putting aside the thought of Elvis, having the opportunity to do some archival genealogcial research sounds most thrilling to me. (If you are yawning at the thought of archival genealogical research, you represent the majority of people, and that’s fine.) Tied into genealogy is the excitement of Southern historical research in general. I won’t begin to touch the depth of knowledge, intuitive understanding, or unique perspective Southern historians have already plumbed. I will just work for my own pleasure and edification. For me, that will be worthwhile.

Another feature which makes Mississippi desirable is the low cost of living, especially when compared with Seattle where you must offer up your first born to buy a house. Here transportation costs, restaurants, entertainment--all things of life are muy caro. With technological advances even in Mississippi (oops, that would be a negative stereotype popping out like a bad zit) I have been able to check Craig’s List and store advertisements and read the newspaper, The Jackson Free Press and The Clarion Ledger, which allow me to see how much things are going for--let me tell you, LOTS less. Our pocketbooks will be happy with this new living arrangement as they won’t be parting with their contents so quickly or so completely.

Blues, oh man, I’m looking forward to some good delta blues. I’m looking forward to some gravelly voices and some blues chords that squeeze my heart. Maybe I’ll take up guitar again. One caveat has been warnings that the best blues clubs are a little dangerous. What does that mean? Dangerous like a snake pit? Dangerous like everyone’s packing a gun? I’m from downtown Seattle. We walk everywhere. We can go to most clubs without a care. (Some hip-hop and rap clubs get a bit snarly with an occasional shooting, but we don’t like hip-hop or rap so that doesn’t affect us except for the bad p.r.) I’ll really be singing the blues if I don’t feel safe going to a blues club when I’m living in the heart of bluesville.

A really big reason I want to like Mississippi is that I don’t want to be perceived as some Northwestern liberal who passes judgment on everyone and everything Southern. The idea that all Southerners are ignorant gun-toting racists, Antebellum wannabes, fundamental and evangelical Christian bigots, throwbacks to a less enlightened time and place is common. There. I’ve said what people have said to me. I’ve stated the dominant Northern and Northwestern prejudice of the South. And what are these prejudicial beliefs based on? Aren’t they based on events decades old? Aren’t they based on our own ignorance of the modern South? That’s what I intend to find out. I bought and read a book called, From Manhattan to Mississippi A New Yorker Falls in Love with the South by Daisy Karam-Read. Much to her surprise, Daisy fell in love with a “Southern gentleman”. They married and she moved to Biloxi. The book is full of idyllic descriptions of southern gentility, proud history, and elegance; of food, etiquette, and conversation; of laid back attitudes, southern drawls, and southern women’s beauty. So the book lacked depth. It didn’t reveal anything about the poverty of a large percentage of people. Nothing about the dismal education statistics. It didn’t consider any of the black population (at least that I could tell). It didn’t even talk about the blues (but maybe Daisy doesn’t like blues). Would I be able to ignore such seemingly “in your face” elements of this southern world? Maybe if I never set foot outside of a lily-white suburb or closed my eyes if I did go out of the perimeters of whiteness; or maybe there is a drink--the mint julep or something--that acts as an oblivion elixir. See, I’m getting edgy and worried and prejudiced. All the things I hope to avoid.

The other worry I have is the weather. Ok, so Seattle weather drips most of the time. I take that back--it drips some of the time. Yeah, we have clouds but we also have sunshine. Our “liquid sunshine” occurs frequently, but rarely does it deluge us day after day after day. Mississippi is experiencing a heat wave. Since I’ve been observing their weather, Mississippi daytime high temperatures have ranged from 85 to 100. That’s so much hotter than our 65 to 73 degree days. Not to mention humidity, though they are speaking of drought conditions right now. Sounds like life in an air conditioned environment to me. When they speak of “front porch” hospitality, they surely can’t mean in that heat! But what really worries me is the possibility of hurricanes. That Katrina bitch was out of control! Jackson is further North than the Gulf Coast, so maybe it’s not as seriously impacted by the demonic forces of hurricanes. I suppose someone coming to Seattle could worry about an earthquake or a volcanic eruption, but those are much rarer occurrences than hurricanes, which, if I remember my science classes in 6th and 9th grades have a season every year.

Laying a few of my concerns out kind of makes me feel better. Getting there, observing for myself--that will be the real test. Nothing like an honest experience, and I will try to keep my prejudices at bay. Besides, I need to focus on our journey, the motorcycle ride across much of the U.S. which will begin July 4, Independence Day.