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. This blog is written by Elizabeth Bloodworth. 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 antithesis or perhaps the antidote to yesterday’s post about Honey Boo Boo.

Miss Nancy runs a summer “manners camp” out of her antebellum home in Hertford, NC. I love her accent, the fact that the children wear whites on the tennis court, how the boys, you can tell, don’t quite know when they will ever need these manners - but learn them, they will. It’s just so… civilized.

Just as Rednecks are part of the fiber of the South, so are Southern blue blood ladies like Miss Nancy. It’s a funny contradiction that both of these parts of Southern culture exist practically side by side. And I appreciate them both. High and low brow. It’s part of what makes the South what it is.

I went to manners classes growing up. They taught me to set the table properly, which fork to use, and I think we had something on thank you notes as well (though my mother had already deeply ingrained that into me as soon as I could write).

I’d like to imagine what Miss Nancy could do for Honey Boo Boo. She’d have her work cut out for her, that’s for sure. In fact, someone needs to pitch that for a reality TV show. I should pitch that… hmm… gotta go…