I received an email yesterday from a former member of our wine club who was hopping mad. Seemed he took offense at a comment I made in high-profile wine magazine. In this article I had made mention that - having closed my winery - I was looking at the possibility of returning to The South. I was quoted as saying that I never really felt fully acclimated to life as a west coaster, and that my heart had always resided south of the Mason-Dixon. While I haven't made any serious plans to return back to the Southeast, I have to admit that the quote was, by and large, correct. I reckon that I am living proof that you can take the boy out of the South, but you can never take the South out of the boy.*
In this email, I was all but called a traitor. My correspondent tried to defend the West Coast way of life, and claimed that anyone who didn't think this lifestyle superior to all others was obviously lacking in both taste and sensibility. I responded that trying to compare the two was tantamount to comparing apples to oranges, and that just because I have a stated preference of one over the other didn't mean I couldn't (and I didn't) appreciate both.
So, what exactly differentiates a Southern way of life from a West Coast one? That's a good question...and one that I often am at a loss of words to answer. So instead, let me try to explain by use of the following photographic images.
1.) When you hear the words, "Beach Music", do you think of:
- or -
2.) Do you own a pair of moccasins that look like:
- or -
3.) When you get hungry for barbecue, does your mind turn to:
- 0r - 
4.) When you go scuba diving, are you dressed like: 
- or - 
5) In preparations for an afternoon at a college football game, do you require: 
- or - 
6.) When you hear the word, 'summer', does your mind turn to: 
- or - 
7) Taking current events out of the equation, do you consider America's
last big military debacle to be:
- or - 
8) When preparing a glass of tea, do you turn to:
- or -
9.) Hearing the term, "the arches", does your mind race to:
- or -
If you picked the first of the two photos accompanying any of these questions, chances are you're living on the west of the Mississippi. If you've consistently picked the second, you no doubt feel my pain. Again, it's not that any choices are necessarily 'better', they're just different.
And different is good. Trust me. I know.
*And, just to clarify to those would-be employers out there, I am more than happy to remain an expatriated Southern Boy if offered the right job.
- or -
2.) Do you own a pair of moccasins that look like:
- or -
3.) When you get hungry for barbecue, does your mind turn to:
- 0r - 
4.) When you go scuba diving, are you dressed like: 
- or - 
5) In preparations for an afternoon at a college football game, do you require: 
- or - 
6.) When you hear the word, 'summer', does your mind turn to: 
- or - 
7) Taking current events out of the equation, do you consider America'slast big military debacle to be:
- or - 
8) When preparing a glass of tea, do you turn to:
- or -
9.) Hearing the term, "the arches", does your mind race to:
- or -
If you picked the first of the two photos accompanying any of these questions, chances are you're living on the west of the Mississippi. If you've consistently picked the second, you no doubt feel my pain. Again, it's not that any choices are necessarily 'better', they're just different.And different is good. Trust me. I know.
*And, just to clarify to those would-be employers out there, I am more than happy to remain an expatriated Southern Boy if offered the right job.
1 comment:
This blog is absolutely interesting!! I usually like to use orange juice in every thing. The orange have many properties, vitamin and antioxidats. This is the main reason why i consume a lot. Actually now, that my husband buy viagra i prepare for him recipe who contain many vitamin.
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