SOUTHERN

Sorry I've been missing for a bit. Just not in a bloggy mood, whatever that means.

Anyways, I'm going through my reader... after two days of not really reading it, there are 342 articles to read. OMG. The one I'm reading just jumped out at me. It spoke to me. It talked about me... SOUTHERN!

A Southern Fairytale

Though this post may be talking about hurricane season, and that's not really something we have to deal with here in landlocked Tennessee, we still have the same heart, pride, and manners. And after the flooding early in May, and threats of it the past couple weeks... Southern is something I think everyone needs a bit of.

My favorite thoughts from the article are:

Southern is more than geography, it’s a lifestyle, it’s in the beat of our hearts, the soft lilt in our words; it’s in the traditions of cotillion and bunco, of cowboy boots and front porch swings, of moonshine and moonpies. I just have to add in there googoo clusters too! Just for you daddy!

Southern is a birth right and a blessing.

We choose to live in the Cone of Uncertainty because the beauty of the Southern people is unmatched anywhere else. You’ll never meet a stranger and you’ll likely never have a door closed in your face, we raise gentlemen and strong southern ladies down here. Yes Ma’am and No Ma’am sprinkle the speech of even the youngest southern children. Three year olds open and hold doors for others because they want to grow up to be just like their daddies.

It’s like picking dewberries in the summer, watching dragonflies flitting among the honeysuckle on Granny’s fence and family portraits in bluebonnets;

Being Southern is who we are, it’s in our bones. Chivalry still exists, everyone knows everyone and a good story requires knowledge of at least 3 generations.

“Y’all come on over tonight and we’ll cook somethin’ up while the kids play” is as much a formal invitation as is required among southerners and these invitations require little more than a holler across the street, a quick phone call or a chance meeting in the store. Manners and Morals aren’t something from days gone by, they’re alive and kickin’. I’m proud to live where Bless Your Heart is both a blessing and.. well, not… depending on to whom it refers; where being called Honey isn’t condescending it’s loving, where Sweet Tea is the norm rather than the exception and Dr Pepper Rules.

The South always comes back, always shows that its heart is matched only by its ability to recover.

The Power, The Beauty, The Heart, The Hope, The Laughter, The Love, The Strength of The South make the Cone of Uncertainty, pretty damn unimpressive, after all.

I thank my Father in Heaven that he blessed me with a southern life, with a southern mama who taught me how to talk and cook, and a southern heritage to be proud of. Even though my daddy's from Iowa, he's been here long enough, so we'll just say he's southern too... but it is oil... not OY-EL.

I'm thankful too I married a good southern man with good southern parents as well. And we'll raise our southern daughters to be polite, saying Yes Ma'am and Yes Sir to everyone they meet, regardless of age. Our door will always be open to whomever wants to eat or chat. And I can't wait to one day have a big wraparound porch to sit on with Chris in our rocking chairs and watch the sun set over the rolling hills... Like my mom and dad do.

This will always and forever be Home!!!

I reckon I've said just about enough ;). Southern is in my heart and in my blood, and I hope it's in yours too...but if not... Well then, Bless your heart!