The North has Bloomingdale's, the South has Dollar General.
The North has coffee houses, the South has Waffle Houses.
The North has dating services, the South has family reunions.
The North has switchblade knives; the South has Lee Press-on Nails.
The North has double last names; the South has double first names.
The North has Indy car races; The South has stock car races.
The North has Cream of Wheat, the South has grits.
The North has green salads, the South has collard greens.
The North has lobsters, the South has crawfish.
The North has the rust belt, the South has the Bible Belt.
FOR NORTHERNERS MOVING SOUTH . . .
In the South --If you run your car into a ditch, don't panic.
Four men in a four-wheel drive pickup truck with a tow chain will be along shortly.
Don't try to help them, just stay out of their way.
This is what they live for.
Don't be surprised to find movie rentals and bait in the same store....
do not buy food at this store.
Remember, "Y'all" is singular, "all y'all" is plural, and "all y'all's" is plural possessive
Get used to hearing "You ain't from round here, are ya?"
Save all manner of bacon grease. You will be instructed later on how to use it.
Don't be worried at not understanding what people are saying.
They can't understand you either.
The first Southern statement to creep into a transplanted Northerner's vocabulary is the adjective "big'ol," truck or "big'ol" boy.
Most Northerners begin their Southern-influenced dialect this way.
All of them are in denial about it.
The proper pronunciation you learned in school is no longer proper.!
Be advised that "He needed killin." is a valid defense here.
If you hear a Southerner exclaim, "Hey, y'all watch this," you should stay out of the way.
These are likely to be the last words he'll ever say.
If there is the prediction of the slightest chance of even the smallest accumulation of snow, your presence is required at the local grocery store. It doesn't matter whether you need anything or not. You just have to go there.
Do not be surprised to find that 10-year olds own their own shotguns, they are proficient marksmen and their mammas taught them how to aim.
In the South, we have found that the best way to grow a lush green lawn is to pour gravel on it and call it a driveway.
AND REMEMBER: If you do settle in the South and bear children, don't think we will accept them as Southerners. After all, if the cat had kittens in the oven, we wouldn't call 'em biscuits.
Patricia Neely-Dorsey's
Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia
"A CELEBRATION OF THE SOUTH AND THINGS SOUTHERN"
ABOUT MISSISSIPPI
Mississippi
The Magnolia State
Home to:
Timeless, Southern Hospitality
The Historic Natchez Trace
Accomplished Musical
and Sports Artists
World Renown Authors,
History,
Natural Beauty,
and Nostalgia.
Mississippi Historical Marker
Magnolia Grandilflora
Mississippi's State Flower and Tree
Mockingbird
State Bird Of Mississippi
Mississippi
I don't know how to explain this place,
Except to say that it "speaks" to me.
The rocks, the flowers, the birds and trees
Speak to me.
They sometimes whisper,
And sometimes they shout;
But always they say,
"This is where you belong."
Patricia Neely-Dorsey 2009
IF MISSISSIPPI"S IN YOU
If Mississippi's in you,
It'll always be that way;
It matters not how far you go,
Or how long you stay.
If Mississippi's in you,
It always plays a part;
In how you live and move and breath,
And in every notion of the heart.
If Mississippi's in you,
It's in you through and through;
It's in in who you are and how you be,
And it's in everything you do.
If Mississippi's in you,
There is some special glow;
A different something down inside,
That all the home folks know.
If Mississippi's in you,
It'll always be that way,
From the time you enter in the world,
Till in the grave you lay.
Every true Mississippian,
Can surely have it said;
I'm Mississippi born,
I'm Mississippi bred,
And when I die,
I'll be Mississippi dead.
Copyright 2008 Patricia Neely-Dorsey
INTERESTING MISSISSIPPI TRIVIA
-The magnolia tree is Mississippi's state tree and the magnolia is the state flower..thus the nickname, "The Magnolia State"
-Mississippi women are often referred to as Mississippi Magnolias
- In 1929, chemist Harry A. Cole of Jackson, Mississippi invented Pine-Sol.
-Tennessee Williams, Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, who wrote such plays as "A Street Car Named Desire", "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "The Glass Menagerie", was actually born in Columbus, Mississippi. He changed his name in 1939 to Tennessee, which is the state of his father's birth.
-Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets and other beloved Sesame Street characters was born in Columbus, Mississippi.
-Blues music sprouted from the Mississippi's Delta and hill country. B.B. King, world renowned blues singer/guitatist was born in Itta Bena, Mississippi.
-Oprah Winfrey was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi
-Naomi Sims, black, supermodel of the 70's and 80's was born in Oxford, Mississippi
-The first-ever heart transplant and the first-ever kidney transplant were performed by Mississippian Dr. James Hardy, a surgeon at Mississippi's University Medical Center.
Elvis Presley was born in my hometown of Tupelo,Mississippi.
WELCOME TO TUPELO BASKET Elvis Tupelo Concert Mug, Elvis postcard with a recipe for Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwiches, Apple Cinnamon Tea Sachets, Tupelo Honey, MS Shaped Ceramic, Tupelo DVD provided by the CDF, and Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia-A Life in Poems by local author Patricia Neely-Dorsey $47 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Reed's Dept. Store The King
(Elvis A. Presley) born :Jan 8,1935-Tupelo,MS From poor and meager beginnings,A young man began to sing;From the small town of Tupelo,A voice began to ring.As surely as it's been said,A man's gifts make a way for him ;This humble diamond in the rough,Became a sparkling gem.Velvet melodies and explosive rock,Were the gifts he'd bring;The world responded with resounding praise,And pronounced this man "The King". Patricia Neely-Dorsey 2009 
(Established 1905)Reed's Dept. store in Tupelo,Is the oldest in the town;It was the place, as a child,Where all our clothing needs were found.Each year, in the fall, with my mom,Before the start of school;We'd go to Reed's for school attire.This was just the rule.When it was time for a winter coat,It was off to Reed's we'd go;So I'd be prepared for chilly days,Or maybe even snow.Reed's is where we'd always get,Our uniforms for scouts;If we needed a new cap or sash,Reed's would have it, without a doubt.Over the years, it stayed the same,If we had special needs;For fancy occasions or big events,We'd always go to Reed's. copyright 2008 Patricia Neely-Dorseyfrom Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia-A Life in Poems Note: Reed's is located in Historic Downtown Tupelo directly across from Tupelo Hardware Store
where it is said that Gladys Presley bought young Elvis his first guitar. PATRICIA NEELY-DORSEY
Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia
Tupleo Convention and Visitors Bureau
http://www.tupelo.net/
------------------------------------------------http://www.tupelo.net/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Where in 1894 Coca-Cola Was Bottled For The First Time In All The World!
CHECK OUT A SITE WITH GREAT PLACES TO VISIT IN THE SOUTHEASTERN USA
INTRODUCED CREATIVELY THROUGH LITERARY WORKS
http://southeasternliterarytourisminitiative.blogspot.com/
Tupleo Convention and Visitors Bureau
http://www.tupelo.net/
Mississippi Division of Tourism
http://www.visitmississippi.org/
Visiting Mississippi/The Official Website of Mississippi
http://www.mississippi.gov/ms_sub_template.jsp?Category_ID=6
Learn more about Tupelo!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupelo,_Mississippi
http://www.imagestupelo.com/
YOU KNOW YOU'RE FROM MISSISSIPPI IF:
1. You measure distance in minutes.
2. You've ever had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" in
the same day.
3. You use "fix" as a verb. Example: "I'm fixing to go
to the store "
4. All the festivals across the state are named after
a fruit, a flower,vegetable, grain, insect or animal.
5. You install security lights on your house and
garage and leave both unlocked.
6. You only own four spices: salt, pepper, ketchup
and hotsuace
7. The local papers cover national and international
news on one page
but require 6 pages for local gossip and sports.
8. You think that the first day of deer season is a
national holiday.
9. You find 100 degrees Fahrenheit "a little warm".
10. You know all four seasons: Almost Summer, Summer,
still Summer and Christmas
The Spice(s) of Life
Sugar on Peas
Sugar on Grits
Sugar in Tea
And hotsauce
On EVERYTHING!
Patricia Neely-Dorsey 2009
-
HUMOR:
"A Mississippi Wife"
Three men married wives from different states.
The first man married a woman from Michigan . He told her that she was to do the dishes and house cleaning. It took a couple of days, but on the third day, he came home to see a clean house and dishes washed and put away.
The second man married a woman from Missouri . He gave his wife orders that she was to do all the cleaning, dishes and the cooking. The first day he didn't see any results, but the next day he saw it was better. By the third day, he saw his house was clean, the dishes were done and there was a huge dinner on the table.
The third man married a girl from Mississippi. He ordered her to keep the house cleaned, dishes washed, lawn mowed, laundry washed, and hot meals on the table for every meal. He said the first day he didn't see anything, the second day he didn't see anything but by the third day, some of the swelling had gone down and he could see a little out of his left eye, and his arm was healed enough that he could fix himself a sandwich and load the dishwasher.
Author note: OK folks...Remember it's just humor...JUST A JOKE....... not condoning ANY TYPE of domestic violence!
.
http://mollyscountrycolorshomeplace.blogspot.com/2009/09/beautiful-scene-or-sad-warning.html
MISSISSIPPI MORNING
I love a Mississippi morning,
On a summer's day;
Everything's so glorious,
In the most delightful way.
The sun is peaking upward,
The earth begins to warm;
Magnificent works of nature,
Are simply just the norm.
There is a sense of wonderment,
At how all things look so new;
The flowers glow with freshness,
From the past night's dew.
The beauty all around you,
Would take away your breath;
You'd feel you'd like to soak it in,
Until there's nothing left.
There's nothing like a Mississippi morning ,
On a summer's day;
It's such a grand production,
It seems we all should pay.
Copyright 2008 from Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia-A Life in Poems
"It is great to be a Mississipian because no matter
where I go, pieces of it always lurk deep within my heart, the sounds of crickets on a still night, the smell of a magnolia blossom, honeysucke, or a freshly cut hay field, the beauty of a flowering dogwood or a shimmering sunset on the Gulf Coast."
ABOUT THE SOUTH
Southern quotes:
"All I can say is that there's a sweetness here, a Southern sweetness, that makes sweet music. . . . If I had to tell somebody who had never been to the South, who had never heard of soul music, what it was, I'd just have to tell him that it's music from the heart, from the pulse, from the innermost feeling. That's my soul; that's how I sing. And that's the South." -- Al Green
The American South is a geographical entity, a historical fact, a place in the imagination, and the homeland for an array of Americans who consider thmeselves southerners. The region is often shrouded in romance and myth, but its realities are as intriguing, as intricate, as its legends. --Bill Ferris
Within the South itself, no other form of cultural expression, not even music, is as distinctively characteristic of the region as the spreading of a feast of native food and drink before a gathering of kin and friends."
-- John Egerton, from "Southern Food, at Home, on the Road, in History
"In the South, the breeze blows softer...neighbors are friendlier, nosier, and more talkative. (By contrast with the Yankee, the Southerner never uses one word when ten or twenty will do)...This is a different place. Our way of thinking is different, as are our ways of seeing, laughing, singing, eating, meeting and parting. Our walk is different, as the old song goes, our talk and our names. Nothing about us is quite the same as in the country to the north and west. What we carry in our memories is different too, and that may explain everything else."
--Charles Kuralt in "Southerners: Portrait of a People"
"The South--where roots, place, family, and tradition are the essence of identity."
--Social historian Carl N. Degler
"In the South, perhaps more than any other region, we go back to our home in dreams and memories, hoping it remains what it was on a lazy, still summer's day twenty years ago."
----Willie Morris
CHECK OUT A SITE WITH GREAT PLACES TO VISIT IN THE SOUTHEASTERN USA
INTRODUCED CREATIVELY THROUGH LITERARY WORKS
http://southeasternliterarytourisminitiative.blogspot.com/
North and South
http://mississippisoaps.wordpress.com/2009/08/10/hello-world/
Homemade Olive Oil Soaps and Shampoo
http://faculty.mercer.edu/davis_da/southernfood/blog.html
What is the Southern Magnolia Tree?
Southern Magnolia Tree on Wikipedia
Magnolia grandiflora, commonly known as the Southern magnolia or bull bay, is a magnolia native to the southeastern United States, from coastal Virginia south to central Florida, and west to eastern Texas and Arkansas. Reaching 27.5 m (90 ft) in height, it is a large striking evergreen tree with large dark green leaves and large white fragrant flowers. Widely cultivated around the world, over a hundred cultivars have been bred and marketed commercially. The timber is hard and heavy, and has been used commercially to make furniture, pallets, and vaneer.
Magnolia grandiflora is a medium to large evergreen tree which may grow 27.5 m (90 ft) tall.[1] It typically has a single stem and a pyramidal shape.[2] The leaves are simple and broadly ovate, 12–20 cm (5–8 in) long and 6–12 cm (2–5 in) broad,[2] with smooth margins. They are dark green, stiff and leathery, and often scurfy underneath with yellow-brown pubescence. The large, showy, citronella-scented flowers are white, up to 30 cm (12 in) across and fragrant, with 6–12 petals with a waxy texture, emerging from the tips of twigs on mature trees in late spring. Flowering is followed by the rose-coloured fruit, ovoid and 7.5–10 cm (3–4 in) long and 3–5 cm (1.5-2 in) wide.[3]
Exceptionally large trees recorded include a 35 m (114 ft) high specimen from the Chickasawhay District, DeSoto National Forest in Mississippi which measured 17 feet 8 inches in circumference at breast height, from 1961, and a 30 m (99 ft) tall tree from Baton Rouge, Lousiana which reached 18 feet in circumference at breast height.[3]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_magnolia
Photo by Bob Franks Fulton, MS
Photo by Bob Franks Fulton,MS
Photo by Bob Franks Fulton,MS
