Once a Southerner, Always a Southerner

You might ask, “If you love the South so much, why don’t you return?” The sweat factor is definitely right at the top of the list. When my employer moved me to KC in 1992, a number of my cohorts were transplanted at the same time. After we had been here for a couple of months, one of them who had been a coworker and golf partner for a number of years said, “Until I moved here, I didn't know you weren't supposed to need a shower right after you take a shower.”

Another reason for my extended absence is my wife. She has a huge network of really great friends, and I think she would wilt like a shade flower in a sunny garden without them. Our answer is to have a second home in the South when we retire. Being an avid gardener, she will love having two growing seasons.

We make it a practice to visit interesting Southern locations when we can so as to be appropriately informed when the permanent coffee break becomes a reality. So far, we view Charleston and Savannah favorably. Though the natives of the former are as welcoming, gracious, and mannered as anyone you’ll ever meet, they suffer from what I’ll call "locus-focus." In other words, if you weren't born there, you’re from “away.” Savannah, on the other hand, is a gumbo as mysterious as my Louisiana. I’d say they’re blessed with a heaping cupful of hocus-pocus.

An additional aspect of loving the South from afar is that you don’t realize how wonderful it is until you are away. I guess it’s like a lot of things. You just take it for granted. People from other parts of the land don’t quite understand it. There are those of us, though, that fully realize what it means to be American by birth and Southern by the grace of God.

Many aspects of the culture are openly shared. Other things are kept under the radar. A good example, especially in Louisiana, is restaurants. The world knows there is good food in Bayou Country, and they flock to the well-known establishments to get a taste. What they don’t know is that we keep some of the best ones a secret. It’s sort of like the Louisiana flag. On it is pictured a mother pelican in a nest with her young, and under them is a ribbon bearing the state motto: Union Justice and Confidence. What most folks don’t realize is that the ribbon is simply Velcro-attached over the real motto: Laissez les bon temps rouler. (Let the good times roll.)

There is also an amusing little secret involving the wild life of Bourbon Street. Folks travel from the world around to that fabled byway to imbibe, pass a good time, and people watch. They are amazed at how crazy the Louisianans act there. What we know and they have yet to figure out is that the people acting crazy on Rue Bourbon are from everywhere else. Yeah, well, I guess that’s only partially true.