Hi Belle Readers,
Are you still checking on my progress from time to time? I am sure you have given up, haven’t you? Well, 2008 is the year of taking those items on the bottom of the ‘to do’ list and popping them right to the top. This site is now a priority. *crossing fingers*
More of my story currently being put into prolific prose.
Thanks for your patience, friends.
Belle x
The southern air of Mississippi is thick and nearly chokes each hopeful inhale taken. The river flows with anticipation and is constantly changing, while the local travellers pride in their consistent, secure and adamant lifestyles. Tradition is a way of life for the southerners and those who stray from such standards risk contradictions of rejection.
I was born into this lifestyle. One that resembled anything but metropolitan and underneath my proud southern façade, I fancied cosmopolitan; an urbane lifestyle of refinery and vivacity. I wanted to trade in my southern roots for a panache taxi hailing, city street roaring, à la mode city chic-er (or slicker for that matter). Unfortunately, where I was raised, an à la mode was a dessert dish at a locally owned downtown café served with a scoop of homemade ice cream and an oversized tumbler of sweet iced tea. It was far from an adventurous afternoon on Fifth Avenue lusting over fashionable kitten heeled shoes, yet it was home. My castle in the air consisted of a certain sweetness however, I was sure it did not cost $8.25, nor was it topped with chocolate sauce.
For years I thought chance had dealt me the wrong cards. No aces discreetly hidden in the sleeve, no Bourbon to wash down the unfortunate fates. In fact, luck of the draw was not even an option, no matter how many pennies I found lying on heads or discoveries of four leaf clovers. Yet, there was something within my core that kept me focused on the task at hand. For me, it was the task of living and making the best of the life I led despite the unknown that waited to be discovered.
Northern Mississippi is where I spent most of my childhood collecting ladybugs in local cornfields and running barefoot in a neighbourhood full of hospitality. At a budding population of 25,944, Columbus, Mississippi is known for Waverley Mansion Plantation, Mississippi University for Women, Columbus Air Force Base, and being the first home of prolific playwright Tennessee Williams. The well respected title, the “Hospitality State” rings true in every essence for a city of welcoming warmth. It is the charming qualities of this northern Mississippi town that creates a perpetual appreciation for my homeland. An appreciation that would result in a flood of tears for future returns to my terra firma.