Browsing: OurMSVoices

I am always eager to learn and share new insights about Mississippi, its people, its places, and especially its abundance of natural resources. That is my absolute favorite part of writing for Our Mississippi Home! 

Most folks who grew up in Mississippi visited a few creekbanks or ponds with a cane pole and a can of worms. I am no exception! Those childhood fishing days are some of the fondest memories of my life. 

Six Months in Massachusetts  I am writing this on the Orange Line heading to class. At the Downtown Crossing stop,…

I am so excited! 

We put up our hummingbird feeder this week, after we read reports of several hummingbird sightings in North Mississippi. Honestly, there are not many things on earth that are quite as amazing as a tiny hummingbird. So, I can hardly wait to see the first one that visits our new little farmhouse here in Blue Springs, Mississippi. It will be a treasured memory for my husband and me.

I was so happy, until…

A few weeks ago, I slipped on black ice and thought that was the end of my era in Boston. I sat on the top step and had a semi-midlife crisis as I reflected on the words I’d told my colleagues: “If I ever fall, I will have to go home.” I’d successfully convinced myself that I would not be able to live here if I fell. Why did I feel that way? Well, I assumed the absolute worst. Broken or fractured bones and absolute embarrassment. 

When I was working for the newspaper, I wrote a weekly story on local restaurants, and I wasn’t supposed to repeat the same restaurant twice. That’s 52 a year, which goes along with our saying that the Coast has a huge diversity of great places to eat.

There’s a moment every Mississippi spring when it happens. You open the front door just a little longer than usual.…

“Snow squall warning.” When I first saw this, I blinked twice and stretched my eyes to re-read what I saw.…

Every Christmas, I find myself thinking less about what’s under the tree and more about what surrounds it. The familiar faces, the shared stories, the traditions that don’t come from a store but from years of being passed down. As the season slows just enough for us to notice, it becomes clear that the most meaningful gifts are often the ones we didn’t realize we were being given all along.

One of the things I miss most about Mississippi is the beautiful, uniquely southern way Christmas is celebrated. Since this will be my first Christmas in Boston, I’ve been contemplating ways to make it feel a little more like home while embracing a new season in my life. 

There is something special about ringing a Salvation Army Bell during the holidays. As a volunteer Bell-Ringer, I am always inspired by the thoughtfulness of those that make their way to the kettle to deposit whatever they have to give. Whether it is a folded bill or a handful of change, the spirit of giving is apparent in her or his own way.

Throughout our nation’s history, countless Mississippians have served in the military, both at home and abroad. Even before attaining official statehood in 1817, many Mississippians joined the militia during the War of 1812

Every Veterans Day I have one particular vet that I think a lot about. He was a man I admired in so many ways and still am amazed at is achievements. He grew up in a profoundly poor family in the Mississippi Delta in a shack with no running water, no electricity and no inside toilet. They were often hungry. I am fond of saying poverty either makes you or breaks you. and this country boy hated the Delta so bad as soon as he got a chance to get out, he did. The quickest way out was to join the army. For the first time in his life, he had new, clean clothes, a comfortable bed to sleep in and all the food he wanted to eat.

Rain lightly falling on the asphalt and concrete. Grey sky with clouds hovering over. Bostonites walking hurriedly with Columbia® and Patagonia® jackets. Mississippians, it is officially cold in Massachusetts. 

There’s something about Mississippi that has always felt like a table big enough for everyone. Whether it’s a church potluck, a backyard barbecue, or a casserole left on a neighbor’s porch after a hard week, food has always been how we show love here. But lately, many of our Mississippi families are quietly facing something that’s hard to imagine—empty shelves and empty stomachs.

Vardaman, Mississippi, will always be home to me. 

Granted, my family only moved there when I was 11 years old, but for me, it is the place where I first learned the meaning of community, and the first place where I felt like a member of a community. My lifelong friendships were forged there during the last, sweet days of my childhood. I also learned the importance of having and being an integral part of a church family back there in Vardaman. And that childhood church home was where I married my husband over 46 years ago.