There are many ex-
Southerners in our midst. Many of us used to live there, and some still feel an attachment to that part of the
United States. We don't care for much of the
politics, but the
anachronisms that many people dislike, we love.
Extra care with manners, restaurants that require men to wear jackets, small towns with shops that are unattached to any chain, Spanish Moss and outdoor ceiling fans on wraparound porches. We love all those things, and more.
But we are not there, anymore. Visits are not the same as being in the South.
To be separated, estranged, is to be apart but left wanting. Wanting... what? The experience of a past that lives on... stubbornly, fitfully, but often gracefully.