Heading West

Crossing the state line that separates North from South Carolina, one finds oneself "South of the Border". This roadside sideshow is a loathsome curiosity. To be fair, it is not alone in its audacity. There is Alabama. Sweet Home it says when crossing the Chatahoochee River from Georgia. Alabama. Nearly every off-ramp is a major site of the Civil Rights Movement: Birmingham, Montgomery, Selma. Perhaps this is the state where one might take the temperature of the United States. Rural. White and Black Men (on road crews together). Lesbians. Churches. College Football. Harleys. Hank Williams. Perhaps this country's future resides in Alabama. Its past certainly does. (November 2, 2017)