South

This isn't a joke, but I put it in here anyway.

I am always amused by Hollywood's interpretation of the South. We are
still, on occasion, depicted as a collective group of sweaty, stupid,
backwards-minded and racist rednecks. The South of movies and TV, the
Hollywood South, is not my South.

This is my South:

My South is full of honest, hard-working people.

My South is the birthplace of blues and jazz, and rock n' roll. It
has banjo pickers and fiddle players, but it also has B.B. King, Muddy
Waters, the Allman Brothers, Emmylou Harris and Elvis.

My South is hot.

My South smells of newly mowed grass.

My South was creek swimming, cane-pole fishing and bird hunting.

In my South, football is king, and the Southeastern Conference is
the kingdom.

My South is home to the most beautiful women on the planet.

In my South, soul food and country cooking are the same thing.

My South is full of fig preserves, cornbread, butter beans, fried
chicken, grits and catfish.

In my South, our transistor radios introduced us to the Beatles and
the Rolling Stones at the same time they were introduced to the rest of
the country.

In my South, family matters, deeply.

My South is boiled shrimp, blackberry cobbler, peach ice cream,
banana pudding and oatmeal cream pies.

In my South the tea is iced and almost as sweet as the women.

My South has air-conditioning.

My South is camellias, azaleas, wisteria and hydrangeas.

In my South, the only person that has to sit on the back of the bus
is the last person that got on the bus.

In my South, people still say "yes, ma'am," "no ma'am," "please" and
"thank you."

In my South, we all wear shoes & clothes....some of the time.

My South is the best-kept secret in the country. Please continue to keep the
secret....it keeps the idiots away.