"The past is not dead. In fact, it's not even past."
-William Faulkner
-William Faulkner
No, I don't have my camera back. These are a few months old. But whenever I drive through some of the more rural* areas of central Alabama, I'm reminded of all the images of Faulkner's "old South": ancient landscapes covered in kudzu and Spanish moss; plantations sprawling across and towering over the warm, green grass of a Southern summer; small towns that never grew, but instead shrank away into memory...
And yet, the life from the past somehow remains. Dust and overgrown these buildings may be, they nevertheless stand.
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*rural (adj. Pron: \ˈru̇r-əl\):
1. of or relating to the country, country people or life, or agriculture
2. of or relating to a place where you must wait for the dog napping in the middle of the road to wake up and move before you can drive by.
2 comments:
Whew! I am really behind in my blog reading and writing! After going through and reading all the posts you've had since June (the last time I was on here), I decided this one was the one I would take time to comment on.
The comment I'd really like to make is on a slight inaccuracy I noticed in this post. Kudzu was technically never a part of the old South. Kudzu was originally introduced into the South from Japan in the 1930's. It was not very prominent until the 1950's and 60's when people began using it for erosion control. Unfortunately, it grew far faster than they had anticipated, and in the 1970's it was officially designated as a weed.
It's hard to think that such a prominent plant like kudzu didn't even exist in the South just 100 years ago. That's what happens when you introduce something new to a very hospitable environment, though.
I hope you've enjoyed this brief history of kudzu, and those pictures are very beautiful. I love rural areas like that!
That's what I get for waxing eloquent, I guess. ^^; oops. I knew kudzu came from Japan, but I don't think I ever knew when it was brought over.
But I know you can make tea out of it.... haven't tried it yet, though.
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