Going Back In Time

I just sent an e-mail to Connie Jo that I'll share part of here. We feel like we're traveling back in time to our childhoods after the depression. People live very simply and poorly. There are many vintage cars being driven around town. You still see clothes hung out on clotheslines. The farm houses and out-buildings are just as they were when their ancestors started farming down here. Men hang out with their shirts off and their big bellies hanging out. There are cigarette butts all over their yards (not as much so in the city). In the city you see a lot of black people (and whites) sitting out on their porches. Almost every porch has a tall back wooden rocker, and almost every house has a front porch. There is a major word of wisdom problem here. They grew tobacco and it was readily available, so people grew up smoking. Smoking was a common thing when we were children, too. But, as to be expected, there are major health problems here. People younger than me seem much older. Drinking and drugs and prison are a constant, too. Some youth have died in tragic auto accidents. They drive way too fast on these two lane highways, and there is sometimes liquor in their cars.

The other day we drove past a vegetable/fruit stand. The sign was hastily written and one item on the list of things to sell read, "Watrmilin". We just looked at each other and laughed. It may have something to do with the way they talk. We make fun, but it's kind of charming in some ways. It really is like "Going Back In Time."

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!