Southern Born

 

What is it like to be SOUTHERN?

For some, I am sure, being southern is something very special and somewhat unique because of the personality traits that most southerners possess.

However, I really don't share those traits, at least, as I perceive them, such as:

• growing up on a farm
• learning to fish and hunt
• acquiring handyman skills
• working in tobacco fields
• operating farm equipment
• being overly friendly to strangers
• liking pickup trucks
• wearing cowboy boots and hats
• having a southern accent
• eating biscuits/gravy in the morning
• having large families
• learning how to cook

While I was born in North Carolina, I was raised in Alexandria, Virginia (considered southern) just 8 miles south of Washington, DC.

I really did not start living in the south until 1966 when I attended college in North Carolina, as an out-of-state student.  So, when I got married in 1969 and became a resident of North Carolina, one could say I was becoming a southerner.

So, ever since 1969 until present time (2025) or 56 years, I have lived my life as a southerner.

What does that mean to me?

• I like southern living
• I like low vehicular traffic
• I like having lots of land
• I like most southern cooking
• I like living around low crime
• I like a low cost of living
• I like southern hospitality
• I do not hunt or fish or farm
• I do not drive a pickup truck
• I do not wear cowboy boots or hats
• I do not own a handgun

Living in East TN for 35 years, I have gotten used to the slow lifestyle...