Y'all Listen Up

I recently re-read one of my favorite books, Mama Makes Up Her Mind, a collection of stories and essays – parables even – by Bailey White. White was an NPR essayist for years and I first heard these stories when she read them on the radio. The book was published in 1993 and I first read it then, when I was living in Nashville, Tennessee and was determined to be a southerner for life.

Things have changed in the 14 years since I first read the book (for starters, I live in Yankee territory these days) but the stories still charm. The full title of the book is Mama Makes Up Her Mind and Other Dangers of Southern Living and that pretty well sums up the anecdotes it contains. I'm charmed by the eccentricities White succinctly describes, and the life lessons she gleens from her daily experiences. Though there is much to be praised about life in Yankee territory, reading the book reminds me how much I miss the quirky charm of southern living.

And then there is the sweet tea..........I miss the sweet tea.