Stranger Things

 The Weather for One is Stranger...

I moved to Columbus, Mississippi, in June 2016 to a dryer than normal summer. I had just left my home state of New Mexico where parts of the state had been in a drought for 20 years, and since I have lived here, it's gotten so much worse there. The wind blows all the time now and Sahara Desert strength sand storms are not unusual. They call them haboobs I believe. These sand storms are characterized by dust and sand in the atmosphere rising up to thousands of feet into the atmosphere and moving in one direction covering whole cities. It's the equivalent of a white out, except that it's brown and stinging and hot and will take your breath away. They've hit Las Cruces, NM and Phoenix, AZ and they're getting worse.

Also, except for this past fall, the seasons were either longer or shorter than I was used to in New Mexico, and until the fall of 2023, I had not experienced a very pleasant fall here in Columbus. It went from summer to winter, it seemed, and the crisp, clear sky of fall that I was used to in New Mexico simply never took here in Columbus. Fall was my favorite time of the year because of the moderate temps, azur skies and a sense of beauty even as the leaves turned color and things began to go to sleep. But in 2023 this changed. We had a beautiful, long-lasting and temperate fall here in my adopted city.

Winters are longer here in Columbus than I'm used to and the rain is something I've enjoyed, no matter the season—lots and lots of rain. As fall gave way to spring this year, the rain has continued, and has been pleasant.

The Presidential Elections are Stranger for Another

I don't really want to make too much of this topic, but presidential elections are stranger here in Mississippi (the deep south) than they ever were in Las Cruces, NM. I'm already in my third presidential year since moving to Mississippi. I have voted in all the elections here, and once I had to go to the county clerk's office to get back on the voting rolls, as I had been kicked off because my physical home address was not good, since I don't receive mail there...Long-ish story short, I had to get back on the roles. We do have more hoops to jump through to actually vote, and getting a driver's license (where you also get registered to vote) is a lot more difficult here than back home. I'm up for driver's license renewal and I think I better try to find my birth certificate...again.

But yeah, while the two other towns in the Golden Triangle where I live have voted blue in the last two presidential elections, here in Columbus, red edges out blue, but just somewhat. Still, it's a surprise to me to meet those who actually have voted for you know who—twice. 

The Diversity of the Population is Stranger as Well

It has been taking some getting used to, because social norms are just a little out of round, here, mainly because the majority group is culturally different than back home. And the expectations of relationships is different here.  The Air Force Base brings an element of diversity. Airmen come from all over the United States and while they and their families are based here, they work in the local community, some buy homes and some renovate homes, only to have to sell them and move on when the time comes. 

But here, for some reason, you don't get invited into people's homes as much as back home. In Las Cruces, when someone knocks on your door, doesn't matter if they are a stranger or a friend, you just step back and they enter. When I first got to Columbus, I was a little dumbfounded that I kept getting knocks at my side door rather than the front door. When I opened the door to see who was there, the person who had knocked had stepped way back from the door, and I got the idea that they didn't want to come into my house, so I visited out there. That included salesmen, men looking for yard work, and others. After while, of course, I got the notion that this was a cultural thing an accommodation between blacks and whites, but it also spills over into same-race accommodation. You become friends with someone and eventually you get invited to come into their homes when you choose to visit there, but I have to say it did take some time. Luckily for me, I've been adopted into a family of three generations who make sure I'm invited for Thanksgiving dinner and other such holidays for the food. I'm the oldest person there and I have become the grandfather figure I think! I also have a more familiar and welcoming relationship with a young couple next door to me. I've been to their house for dinners as well as we have done things together in town.

The Black Lives Matter gatherings were interesting and I attended the George Floyd gathering at the county courthouse, and it was well attended by blacks, whites, Asians, and Hispanics. I knew many of the people at the gathering and I felt at home among them. At the time of the protest/gathering, the confederate statue was still standing at the courthouse in Columbus. It has since been removed. I was shown but will not show it here that an unexpected view from the back of the statue looked just like a Klansman with a white hood. Some here have vehemently denied it. The point is there wasn't any substantial protests to keep the statue at the courthouse, but it is good riddance to a city as diverse and southern friendly as Columbus, MS.

Church Going is Stranger Here than Back Home

I was not surprised, when I realized this part of the country is deeply committed to church going and their religion and it makes for many kinds of "aha" moments. For one thing everybody goes to church. All the locally owned businesses, including restaurants close on Sunday. When I first got here I ate out a lot more than I do now, and it was difficult to realize that Sunday simply was not a good day to get anything done, if it involved dealing with a locally owned business. Yes, this is a complaint, after living here for eight years. I'm retired and have been since 2008, and as a retired person, every day is a Saturday for me. Sorry, I have old-fart privileges you won't get until you make it to your 70s, and being annoyed at the inconvenience of Sundays is one of them.

I have been invited to church, and I have attended, both a Catholic church for a special Christmas presentation and a Baptist church out in the country near Columbus for a catfish fry and evening church service. I felt that those in the Baptist church were traveling to the beat of their own drum and were more invested in Jesus as a savior than as a political warrior, which is why I was endeared to this particular church, even though I am not a church goer.

Lessons learned as Compared to Pre-Conceived Notions are Stranger Than Expected

During my eight years here I have learned that some preconceived notions that people have about Mississippi are true. There is poverty, there is racism, there is the never ending obsession with the Civil War, now 160 years in the past, and there is the oddly prevalent Southern Hospitality that will surprise and delight anyone who has not been here. I have acquaintances back home who fear coming to Mississippi because they fear blacks and race relations and conflict. It might be well founded in the larger cities in the south, but in point of fact Jackson, the largest city in Mississippi is majority black and it's also the seat of government. And it's also a cultural hub where major book festivals are held each year. Most  communities are either mid-sized towns or small towns and "racial strife" is low key. Most people, black and white accommodate one another. The northern part of Mississippi is much more conservative and home of outlier KKK groups, etc. But even that cannot be obsessed over. Mainly black populated towns are politically blue, but so are many white majority towns; this is of course my own personal experience and the result of study the city stats of every Mississippi town I've been to or been interested in. Columbus, while politically red for the most part also has a university and provides safe spaces for LGBTQ+ people and their supporters. The local coffee shops accommodate a wide range of customers and I have met gay Airmen and their fiancées or same sex spouses at the coffee shops. I have been overheard discussing politics with my friends and the eavesdroppers (who couldn't help but listen because my friends and I are not very quiet) have eventually joined into the discussions. 

The writers group I belong to accepts writers who provide a wide spectrum of points of view and those who are conservative Christians are quiet and even supportive of the material that is read, even if some eventually say they've voted for Trump or don't personally like homosexuality. I am always careful to tell them I'm reading from one of my gay-themed novels, but there will not be a penis in sight in the selection I am reading; and yet, when a psychologist-type writer read his very graphic "Portnoy's Complaint" type of graphic scene, the group accommodated the reading.

So, yeah, there's poverty and prejudice and racism, but there's also not. People don't wear their opinions on their sleeves and most don't seem eager to convert me to their particular point of view. I personally love the diversity here. I'm totally and proudly "woke" to tell you the truth, but some of my friends here are not "woke"; some don't even know who Marjorie Taylor Greene or Matt Gaetz is. Some no doubt believe that the legacy media is fake news and they're not aware that...well...their notions are what's not true. 'Nuff said. It's just "stranger times" these days, even here in the deep south.