Just a Pinch of South

For those of us who grew up in the South but have moved elsewhere, we love our roots and all they have provided. There's a lot that I've come to appreciate about the South. But let's be honest, most of us don't want to go back to "full Southern." We're happy with just a pinch here and there to add flavor to the life we live now. If you are not a Southerner, perhaps you'll come to better appreciate the little gifts the American South has given and continues to give our culture. Photos are not mine unless specified. Email me at justapinchofsouth @ gmail dot com. I tweet at @apinchofsouth and my other tumblr is called "everythingthatdoesntfitelsewhere" which is just what it sounds like.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the train trestle on the album cover of R.E.M.’s album Murmur (above) is unsafe and may be taken down. Read about it here.

R.E.M. was the soundtrack of early high school for me. They were inescapable and adored by all of us. Especially “early” R.E.M. before they left I.R.S. records. Their last full album with I.R.S., Life’s Rich Pageant, takes me directly back to fall and Friday night football games.

But I also loved the earlier album Murmur. The song “Sitting Still” from that album might be the perfect song. I came to Murmur late (it was released back in 1983), but it never felt dated. The lyrics are inscrutable and in the era before the internet there was nowhere to look up even an approximation of what Michael Stipe was singing about. It was all about the atmosphere. I associate it with quiet longing, hope, and fear. But maybe that’s just 8th grade, not what Mr. Stipe was singing about.