My sister Linda and I were sitting at a green dinette table in a kitchen in Natchez, Mississippi, about to be served lunch. The house was small and we were near the front. Looking around, I noticed the decades-old furniture and a tv with rabbit-eared antenna and on the wall, framed pictures of FDR, JFK and MLK, and two of a nattily-dressed African American family from about the Great Depression time; also an American flag and a card with calligraphied Bible scripture. But then the aroma of food caught my attention fast -- I was hungry.
Mary, a wiry old women, served us barbecue, collard greens and corn bread. As we happily ate, she told us how she'd been caring for her mother (herself the daughter of emancipated slaves from a plantation near Natchez) and her youngest kids when the commotion broke out across town. She said it'd been a terrible night and following weeks after the fire that killed so many of those poor people who'd only been out to dance and have fun. Then she pointed to the pictures and icons on the wall and explained their importance to her, how she was grateful to be alive, healthy, and living in her own house, debt-free.
We happened to be eating lunch at Mary's table after glimpsing her porch sign -- Cheap and good home-cooked Food right in town, and were now glad at our strange good fortune. I think the whole meal cost about five bucks, conversation free.
Linda and I were toward the end of a summer-long 7,500 mile drive around the country on a shoe-string-and-credit-card budget visiting relatives, friends, and various sites. We'd come out from New Orleans and soon, from Natchez, were about to drive the entire length of the Natchez Trace from its Mississippi River terminus to Nashville by way of Tupelo, with more than 400 miles to cover.I had no idea about the various Natchez-inspired songs at the time; I've only learned more about them and the town's history since our visit.
That summer when Linda and I drove all over the country was the 25th anniversary of the publication of Jack Kerouac's On the Road; next year will be the 50th. Time is a strange thing, but we do remember, just like yesterday, much as Mary remembered the 1940 fire and all the rest of it.
Natchez Indians around the time Natchez became a French fort (Rosalie) and trading post.Today's Rune: Fertility.
Birthdays include:
Calvin Trilling (b. 12/5/1935)
Joan Didion (b. 12/5/1934)
Bon voyage!
1 comment:
my dad was just in Mississippi last week. He drives a huge tow truck and they sent him down their to get a semi or something... he was gone for half the week. I don't like when he goes out of town.
Post a Comment