Southland

southern comfort

What is it about the South that makes me love it so darn much?

  • Is it because it is warm?
  • Is it because the people tend to be more congenial?
  • Is it the mountains, the waterfalls, barrier islands, the beaches?

It is probably all of the above and a few other things. Whatever it is, it holds some sort of unexplainable mystique for me.

I have always lived in the Midwest. Some call it flyover country, but I don’t mind it much. Other regions have been interesting to visit and there are areas I still haven’t gotten around to yet that I would like to see, but the South is the only other place I would like to live.

The weather in the Upper Midwest/Great Lakes region generally sucks if you live close to Lake Michigan, as we do. The winters are usually long and hard, with tons of snow. Springs are not at all nice. The summer is short. The big lake plays games with us. If the wind changes, the temps can nose dive twenty or more degrees in the middle of a summer afternoon.

I am a Southerner at heart. I am even beginning to feel nostalgic about humidity. Well, I did grow up in Missouri. I am totally a shorts and flip flops sort of guy who would like to try my hand at being a beach bum.

I like it when servers at restaurants call me “Hon.” I like being drawn into a conversation with a total stranger. Yankees and big city people take themselves way too seriously.

 

 

About Glenn

Glenn Hager is a blogger, former newspaper columnist, and author of two books, An Irreligious Faith and Free Range Faith.
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2 Comments

  1. Sounds like a great trip! I also grew up in the Midwest, in the shadow of Lake Michigan 🙁 Now I hate humidity! I now live in the Southwest and I find it to be just as friendly as you describe the South, even to some of the waitresses calling my husband and I “Hon” or some other endearment. I was surprised when we moved here that the grocery clerk and bag person would talk to me! That would never happen where I came from! I’m not invisible!

    Have a great and blessed time.

    • Jean – Indeed not many people have anything good to say about humidity. A few years ago, we were vacationing in Savannah, Georgia in June. As we were sitting on bench in Forsyth Park near that beautiful fountain, we struck up a conversation with a local walking her dog. She had moved there from somewhere in the north. We couldn’t help but discuss humidity since it was impeding our breathing. I still remember her saying, “Honey, you don’t have to scoop humidity.”

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