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This Month:
MISSISSIPPI SEEN by WALT GRAYSON
Island trip proves it's a big, small world
Let me just say up front that I’m writing this while Jo and I are in Hawaii. I’ve always wondered what it was like for writers-in-exile remembering home. You know, Mississippians living and writing in faraway places. Faulkner wrote a good bit while in Hollywood working as a screen writer. Tennessee Williams (from Clarksdale and Columbus, in spite of his nickname) did his best stuff in New Orleans’ French Quarter. Even Greenville newspaper editor Hodding Carter Sr. wrote his Pulitzer Prize-winning editorials on racial moderation for the Greenville Delta Democrat Times at his summer home in Maine.
While I don’t expect to win a Pulitzer Prize for this month’s article (but who knows, it could be a slow year…), I have been looking forward to the experience of being so far away and writing for home folks. Can one write for a familiar place from such an unfamiliar surrounding? But then, I ran into Raymond Seid in Honolulu and the unfamiliar became familiar again.
Raymond and I went to school together (K-12) in Greenville back in “the day.” We reacquainted ourselves at a class reunion a couple of years ago. The rest of us were in awe that Raymond lives in Hawaii. We parted with the obligatory, “If you’re ever in Honolulu, look me up.” Safe sentiment, I thought. How many times will I pass through Honolulu?
But then this trip Jo and I are taking came up. We sent out a few general hollers on Facebook that we were going to Hawaii, and Raymond messaged us back. He insisted his offer to drop in on him was genuine. So we did.
Raymond is one of the dozen or so Chinese kids we went to school with. After a career in government, he’s retired.
As Jo and I were squinting sidelong at the steamed bamboo bowls of authentic Chinese food Raymond ordered for us in Honolulu’s Chinatown, we got to talking about our childhood experiences in the Mississippi Delta. Similarly, we were both “north-end kids” in Greenville. But where my daddy was born in Louisiana and my mother in the hills of northeast Mississippi, Raymond’s parents came from China. So there were differences in our upbringings that, although we were oblivious to them when we were kids, I find fascinating now.
For instance, Raymond told me that when he was little he picked up a few Chinese words from his grandparents. But he lost all that soon after starting school, where only English was spoken. He’s rather fluent in the language now. Why? Because just as I’ve made trips to my old family territory in Itawamba County, Raymond has made several trips to his family village in China. Consequently, he picked up the language again.
As kids, we never gave it a second thought that there were a bunch of ethnic groups in the Delta. In addition to Chinese we had Lebanese, Italian, African descendents, European descendents and, I’m sure, a bunch more.
Raymond says he wants to write a book about the Chinese experience in Mississippi from the vantage point of one who lived it. It occurred to me that when he does, he will be writing as another of our native sons living in a far-off place. But where else in the world could he be better situated than halfway between his homes in Mississippi and China? And where would it be less likely that would I run into an old school buddy than in Honolulu? It is a big, small world.
Walt Grayson is host of “Mississippi Roads” on Mississippi Public Broadcasting television and the author of two “Looking Around Mississippi” books. For ordering information, visit www.epaofms.com.
GRIN 'N' BARE IT by KAY GRAFE
A sign of the times
Cars, cars everywhere, but who can tell them apart? Unless you’re like Hunter, my grandson, who studies all cars like a required course in school.
My chief consultant had always bought American-made cars. Not only were they American, but a Chrysler product. He’s extremely loyal to the company since his dad had a dealership for 40 years. Many other people were having great results with their foreign-made vehicles. They had spectacular gas mileage, and the cars seemed to last longer than American made.
Our SUV drank fuel like a man lost in the desert who’d found a pool of water. We were not happy about that.
Soon, a dreadful thing happened. Our car was totaled in a wreck. Luckily no one was badly hurt. The point is, we had to buy a new car.
The next point is, I picked out a Toyota car crossover. I fell in love with the color. And since I liked the color, I assumed it would drive OK. It would still give us the advantage of transporting large items. And best of all, it would cut our fuel cost in half.
My chief was skeptical. He prayed hard about this and asked for a sign from heaven where his dad lives now.
The sign he received was from me. I prepared my motivational speech, even wrote it down. After my talk was finished, he rolled his eyes and said, “You knew I was convinced after the first sentence.”
“What was in the first sentence?” I asked.
“You began with, ‘Since it’s basically my car we’re buying…’”
So we dashed off to the Toyota dealership and sealed the deal. I was happy and he was reeling from the loss of a family tradition.
Soon our fuel cost was cut in half and I could go shopping twice as much. The moon roof gave the allusion of stars in our eyes—which at the time they were, we just didn’t know yet.
The car was magic. It was impossible for me to lock my keys inside and no keys were needed to drive. Our foreigner had all sorts of features I’d not had on our SUV. I thought I was in automotive paradise driving my sapphire-colored, unique-body-style car.
Soon, another dreadful thing happened. Toyota recalled millions of their cars, and ours was on the list.
“I knew it,” he said, as he paced the floor. “I knew I shouldn’t have bought foreign-made. You talked me into going against the voice in my head that kept saying, ‘You’ll be sorry if you turn your back on America.’ Woe is me.”
In the meantime he called our dealership. I tried to get his mind off the bleak situation until we received a call back.
“Don’t worry, things always work out,” I said, citing the motto I live by. “Let’s play a game. We’ll name changes or items cars don’t have now that they had when we were young, and see who names the most.”
Reluctantly, he began: “Running boards, vent windows, radio antennas, whitewall tires, seat covers, two-door sedans, hardtops, vinyl roofs, hood emblems (we used them to keep us between the lines), chrome bumpers and light dimmers on the floor. Remember we used to go for a ride with windows down to get cooled off, and for courtesy blow the horn when we passed a car.”
Before my turn, the phone rang. The salesman said, “Yes and no. Your Toyota was on the recall list, but we fixed the problem before you bought it.”
“Whew! Are you happy now?” I asked the chief.
“Not overjoyed. I’m thinking this is a sign from my dad.” He gazed at me wistfully. “How do you feel about trading your car?”?
Write Kay at 2142 Fig Farm Rd., Lucedale, MS 39452 or e-mail kaygrafe@bellsouth.net.
SOUTHERN GARDENING by JEFF WILSON
Don't let pruning turn into 'crape murder'
We’ve all seen it happen, and some of us have even committed it. We try not to stare, but we can’t look away. It's just so...well, ugly. It is ‘crape murder,’ and it’s no laughing matter.
Crape murder occurs when crape myrtle trees are pruned to the same point for many years, causing unsightly knots on the trunks. This greatly diminishes the plant’s aesthetic appeal and its structural integrity.
Pruning crape myrtles and other plants this time of year is an important task. You do not have to prune, but if you choose to, it should be done properly. With a few helpful hints, you can have a beautifully maintained landscape without committing crimes against your crapes.
Gardeners are always asking why, when and how they should prune ornamental plants. We prune for many reasons: to control size and shape, to remove unwanted or diseased growth, to promote flowering, and to create forms.
Late winter through early spring is a great time to prune broadleaf evergreens such as hollies, boxwoods and nandinas, and summer-flowering plants like crape myrtles, roses and altheas. Do not prune spring-flowering plants such as forsythias, spireas and azaleas until the blooms have dropped.
Use several pruning techniques to prevent having that cookie-cutter landscape. You may lightly cut back the tips of a Japanese holly without altering the overall shape. You can remove the older canes of nandinas and blackberries to thin out the canopy.
With formal hedges of boxwood and holly, it is best to lightly shear them to a desired shape. Do not do this for the entire landscape because the results can be unfortunate.
You can drastically cut back broadleaf evergreens to rejuvenate them. I did this last weekend to a group of Dwarf Yaupon Hollies. It may take two summers before they are completely full again, but it was better than removing and replanting the entire bed.
Now back to this crape murder situation. The practice began with pollarding, which is cutting branches back to the trunk to produce long, straight shoots. It is a great theory, but not many, including me, understand the true art of this practice.
The best idea is to avoid pruning the same spot on the trunk each year. Instead, cut to a place about 12-18 inches higher than the previous year. This will result in a healthier, better-structured tree. At some point, you may even decide to just let the crape myrtle have a natural shape.
Whatever method you use, be certain your pruners are sharp, clean and working properly. Stop by your local Mississippi State University Extension office for publications on the subject of pruning.
Jeff Wilson is a horticulturist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service. More Southern Gardening columns are available at www.msucares.com.
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