Penny Sanford Porcelains

Gordon will never take me back to Walmart!

We just got back from Super Walmart in Grenada (Saturday late afternoon), and  we have divided the supplies among the big house (for Mama and Unc), the studio (for us), supplies for the van (since we spend so much time in the van) and the other vehicles and Grandma's house (our future home).

I had a two page, single spaced, double column list of needed supplies. Really. No kidding.

Gordon was in shock when we left the store. The bill was more than a van payment. No exaggeration! We try to pay off our vehicles in three years, so that will give you an idea of the depth of Gordon's state of shock!

I have not told him that I still did not find everything we needed and that we need to go to the Starkville Super Walmart tomorrow afternoon or the first of next week.

This is going to sound very pathetic, but I had FUN in Walmart this afternoon.  They had put out lots of YELLOW plastic stuff for summer! I found yellow coat hangers, new yellow water bowls for the doggies, a little yellow pitcher to hold peach tea for me to take from work station to work station, a great yellow divided plastic file folder.

We got a couple of those really big plastic storage trunks, and Mackie is at this moment trying to peek inside to see if there are any more new squeaky toys. There are not any more in the blue plastic trunk, but I'm going to let it sit where it is, holding generic antibacterial wipes and yellow plastic ware just to see if Mackie will hop in.

The plastic squeaky pizza slice lasted all of ten minutes. No kidding. Mackie stole it from Elvis and chewed right through that toy.  The plastic squeaky hamburger seems to be lasting a bit longer.  We were trying to get something that Elvis could keep as his very own.

Recently, Elvis  found an old squeaky four inch soccer ball that had survived six to eight English Shepherd puppies since 1992.  Elvis was SO proud of that little soccer ball, and he walked around, head high and tail high, taunting Mackie for a day or two before Mackie stole it back and has not let Elvis play with it since. All of the black soccer ball markings have been chewed off, but the little ball still squeaks faithfully!  I wish I could find some more of those little Westie-proof balls!

So, I can share my Walmart strategy with you now...because Gordon figured it out on this trip! hummmph!

At first I would make two lists, one for him and one for me, but he would race through his list, overlooking half of it, and buying the smallest quantities of the items he did happen to find.  So that did not work, because I had to go back and exchange a small bottle for the larger economy size.  I adore generic brands where possible, and he does not think a generic pain killer will work as well as a more expensive brand name.  Men have such limited minds at times!  *sigh*

Since the two lists did not work, I have evolved into just one list that I....and only I....possess.  We set off with two shopping carts, and I send him off for two or three items that he can find in the same area of the store. 

If he looks at me with a blank expression, I make a short list of the two or three items, complete with visual aids like the size of the container, the color of the container, any words that are important.

"Now, Honey, we need the largest bottles of extra strength extended release Tylenol...but the generic version that just says acetaminophen...and we need two bottles". I try to smother the short, verbal Go Find lists with plenty of Honey's and Sweetie's and Please and Thank You and other forms of praise.

The nearest Walmart in Winona (ten miles away) does not carry the generic version and does not have the large, more economic bottles. Makes perfect sense to me and any other woman, but Gordon has only been helping shop for Mama and Unc for 4.5 years, so some of the standard purchases are taking longer to "soak in" his brain.

He knows I am teasing him with this. In addition to his affected shock when we make stocking up trips to Walmart or Sams or other large quantity stores, we have an ongoing thing about toilet paper (hereafter abbreviated as TP....I'm feeling tired and too lazy to type out those two words every time!

Gordon, the bachelor for 36 years, does not see the need to buy TP until he is down to the last piece of TP on the last roll. I start having TP panics if we get down below five rolls. We go through a lot of TP here on the farm. (No obvious jokes, please!)

So sweet Gordon no longer winces in pain when I put one or two packages of 24 double rolls of TP in the cart.

But back to my strategy. While Gordon is off searching earnestly for his two or three assigned items, I can head to the dog toys or the magazines or the yellow plastic-ware...you know, fun stuff!

Well today, Gordon started noticing that my cart was filling up in sizable increments every time he left on one of his search missions, so after the fourth special assignment, he refused to leave me alone. 

Now, he spun an admirable web of reasons he needed to stay and help me with my list...the hubby learns fast when he wants to...but I knew right away that he had figured out my shopping tactics. That's ok, I'm a resourceful Southern woman. This is not even a real challenge for us women, is it?

On one of my solo forays into the normally off limit isles in Walmart (dog toys...all the aforementioned areas), I saw a woman with a little Yorkie in an over-the-shoulder bag. Well, of course, I had to stop and ask her if she had any problems bringing her little dog into stores, among other questions....and pet the sweet little thing after asking permission.

The lady told the little dog to "lie down and hide", and the precious little fur ball did just what she said.  ADORABLE! When not hiding, he had his priceless little face peeking out under her arm, just taking in all the sites and smells! 

Oh, how I wish our Westies were small enough to do that!  I am a much, much happier person when one or more of our dogs is near.

I'll try to snap some pictures of the little hair thingies I bought today for the girl dogs. The hamburger is no longer squeaking, and Elvis is now up on the bed...so I think Special Forces Mackie has chewed through the second toy of the afternoon.

Miracle of miracles, there is no basketball game that Gordon MUST watch tonight. Gasp! I am as shocked as Gordon at the Walmart check-out lane a few hours ago.

We are about to watch a movie TOGETHER! Both of us snuggled, watching the same movie at the same time with four little white fur balls snuggled around. Pure Heaven by my definition.

Untraceable is the movie. Hmmnn, I might pick up some shopping strategies from this movie!

Yep, I have a thing about old country stores, abandoned or active. This is just a very few of the photos Gordon and I have collected in our travels. If you know a name for any of these stores, other than my best guess printed on each picture, please let me know.

 

Life Larger than Life

We are driving through steady rain, on Highway 45, headed to Meridian, Mississippi, where I am scheduled to give a program on the History of Porcelain and the History of Penny Sanford Porcelains.  The Lauderdale County Republican Women is hosting the program.

Thanks to everyone who had emailed to ask what had happened and why I was not blogging as usual.  Thank you, Vickie, for your touching email!

Well, Life has been...Larger than Life!

Remember in the movie, Jurassic Park, when the T-Rex was chasing the jeep, the view from the rear view side mirror had those warning words, "Objects may be closer than they appear in this reflection"...or words to that effect.

That is a perfect illustration of life these last weeks.  The unexpected opportunities, surprise complications, looming deadlines have been like that hungry T-Rex chasing us.  (Trying very hard not to call them problems, ya know?)

We have survived, projects are managed, opportunities and complications have deposited their life lessons in our brains, and we are still moving forward.

Apparently Gordon and I would be bored with a "normal" life, because our trip to Meridian is covered in tornado warnings and at least one verified tornado between Laurel and Meridian. The warnings and watches continue through 3:30 p.m. today.  Life is apparently never going to be dull for us!  HA!

Internet access is limited because of the weather, so I cannot upload any photos to go with this.  In my absence from the blog, Gordon and I have been taking oodles and oodles of photos.

Oh great....National Weather Service has interrupted the radio program to give more warnings.  That tone is enough to make me crawl out of my skin.  Major goosebumps. 

Oh great, the monotone radio voice just said, "Most deaths occur in automobiles" for areas under the numerous warnings that this part of the state is under.

Gee, thanks, Mister Monotone!

Lots of good stuff to share with you as soon as I can upload some photos!  I've been missing you all!

Fondly,
Penny

Where in Blaine have we been?

Blaine, Mississippi.  In Sunflower County in the Mississippi Delta.

Blaine is an un- incorporated little community with some tantalizing remains of the past that would thrill any shutterbug.

Here's what I found online about Blaine, Mississippi:

13 miles north of Indianola on U.S. Highway 49-W and the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad. Also known as Vance's Crossing, until a conflict with Vance, Mississippi, was renamed to Blaine. Blaine, as a postal stop, was closed in March 1968.

The sun was setting fast, but Gordon and I managed to snap a few pictures to share with you.

This was that same trip that we made to Ruleville, MS, to give a program.

Blaine is closer to Sunflower (the town) than it is to Ruleville.  You may not know that Craig Claiborne, longtime food critic for the New York TImes and author, was from Sunflower in Sunflower County, Mississippi!

Another old cotton gin that I just HAD to photograph.  Now, I don't know this for sure, but I would guess there was first a Fisackerly farm or plantation.

Murray might have been a big corporation farm with a number of gins, or it was a cotton gin company.

If you know for sure, please let me know.

When the Kilmichael Cotton Gin was closed, the gin equipment was sold to a third world country. Apparently many smaller, older gin equipment was shipped overseas.

Anyway, where were we? 

Anywhere I can photograph chickens, you can't drag me away.  Gordon was driving that day, or we might still be in Blaine with me following those chicken around to photograph them! 

I am fascinated by chickens, and I want to raise some here on the farm.

Then there was this very interesting home from the 20's? 30's? Unique design.

Would you call this a bungalo? Could this be one of those rare Sears Roebuck mail-order houses? If you can give this style a name, please let me know.

I love those leaded windows! Notice how the columns get get both thicker and wider... and are covered with shiplap siding?

That is shiplap, is it not? Always love to learn...

Mystery in the Mississippi Delta

While you are *hopefully* helping me identify some historic homes in Columbus, Mississippi, maybe you can help me identify some sites in the Mississippi Delta.

These shots are some more "Through The Windshield" shots. At best, Gordon gave me time to step one foot out of the van to snatch the shot.

We drove to Ruleville to give a program, and then we drove to Doddsville to grab some photos mentioned by the Delta natives in the meeting.

Photo 1: Highway 8 West on the outskirts of Ruleville. This must have been a farm owner's home at one time. I don't think farm managers would have had a two story house. It does look a little like the Masonic meeting buildings I have seen in other communities. If you know the family that built this house or the name of the farm to which it was affiliated, please let me know.

Photo 2: This was shot on Highway 442 East of Ruleville. The name of the plantation is posted on the barn in the form of wooden cut-out letters. Some of the letters have fallen, making the name of the Delta farm a mystery to me. Do you know?

Photo 3: Farms of all sizes are called Plantations in the Delta. On a large farm/ plantation, there would be a Commissary (store) and maybe some community churches like the one in Photo 4.

Photo 4: The First John MB (Missionary Baptist) Church on Highway 442 East of Ruleville. It's location was probably in a long-extinct community. If you know the name of the community, surrounding farm/ plantation, or the year of the church's founding, please share that information.

Photo 5: I think this is the remains of the Scruggs Commissary on Highway 442 (West, I think) of Ruleville. That would mean the family farm/ plantation on which the commissary was built was the Scruggs family.

Photo 6: Heading west of Ruleville on Highway 442, you come to the little community of Doddsville. Today Doddsville is not too much more than a few houses and some farm buildings.

The family plantation of former U.S. Senator James O. Eastland, is in Doddsville, in Sunflower County, MS. I think the plantation is still owned by the Eastland family.

Eastland was in the U.S. Senate for 36 years, leaving a well defined stamp on our history.

Photo 7: Eastland Plantation Commissary. The building was tantalizingly open, but we did not get off of public ground (highway). I know how I feel about people poking around our farm without permission, so Gordon and I give the same courtesy to other property owners.

Photo 8:  Eastland Plantation Commissary

Photo 9: Eastland Plantation Commissary

Photo 10: One of two dwellings on the highway at the Eastland Plantation. Were these the plantation owner(s) homes or the plantation manager homes?

Photo 11: Was or is there a big, grand Eastland family home on this large plantation?

Columbus Through the Windshield

We were in Columbus for a doctor's appoint -ment one day this week.

It was an overcast, humid, saturated day, usually great for moody color- drenched photos.

But we were in a hurry arriving and returning to the farm, so I only got a few hurried drive-by shots through the tinted windshield dotted with a few raindrops.

Columbus is having their Pilgrimage right now, as is Natchez and Aberdeen and other storied towns around Mississippi.

I wish I could give you the name of these venerable homes in Columbus, but we were driving too fast for me to read the discrete little signs that identify the house and date of construction. 

I just don't know as much about Columbus' historic homes as I know about the famous houses of Natchez.  If you can provide the names and dates of some of these beauties, please share that information in the comments.

Beautiful time of year in Mississippi. Columbus is an hour and a half south and east of the farm, so their dogwood and redbud were more developed than our dogwood and redbud here on the farm.

This past week, while Unc and I were setting out trees and pruning some trees, I should have taken the camera to capture the before, during and after of the dogwood explosion on the farm.

We will continue this year to prune underbrush, selectively "edit" the roadsides on the farm so that the dogwood and redbud trees can be seen in all their glory in the spring as well as the fall.

More on the family's tree-planting journey later.

Photo 1: unknown name/date of construction

Photo 2: unknown name/date of construction

Photo 3: unknown name/date of construction

Photo 4: This was like a refreshing party mint. It was all freshly painted mint green (a favorite color) and white trim with colorful flowers. Like a storybook. I could see myself living in this pretty house.

Do you drive through neighborhoods and evaluate houses on whether or not you can see yourself living in that house?

Photo 5: I adore Wisteria! Here it is left to run wild. Note the brick-red maple starting to bloom among the wisteria. Redbud blooms would be more fuscia in color.

We want to nurture some wild and free areas of wisteria here on the farm. We have two sites started, but nothing like this stunning wall of wisteria! The scent was heavenly.

Photo 6: Wisteria can be trained into a tree shape. I want to do this around Grandma's house here on the farm.

It takes many years and lots of attention to get a wisteria "tree" of this size.

Sentimental for Starkville

Starkville, Mississippi, has a sweet spot in my heart.

From sixth grade to eleventh grade (I graduated a year early), I rode with my mother the one hour to Starkville Academy and the one hour back from school every day.  She traveled the same Highway 82 every work day for 18 years!

My two uncles graduated from Mississippi State. I graduated from MSU in 1983.

Back in 1969, Mama wrote the grants and set up the Library Science Department at Mississippi State University. Then she taught many, many students for those 18 years. Sadly, after Mama retired, the Library Science Depart -ment closed down within a few years. 

By the way, "Library Science" means teaching people how to be librarians. There is a great need for good librarians in this Infor -mation Age in which we live. And, for those who don't know, Mississippi State University is the largest University in Mississippi with a heavy footprint in research and continuing education for businesses in the state.

Starkville, as the home for the professors, scientists, professionals that keep MSU running and growing, is quite a vibrant, bubbling cauldron of learning... continuing education... activities, ideas and standards brought from other university communities.

Daddy wanted to learn to make jewelry... lost wax casting... so he audited some courses at Mississippi State, and Mama and I have the few pieces he was able to make before his health declined.  I can't even begin to explain how precious those few pieces are to us!

Starkville started as a lumber town. It was dubbed "Board -town" because of the board sidewalks in the town.

The Greensboro Street Historic District in Starkville is an idyllic little street. I love the variety of architecture. This is no cookie cutter subdivision. 

These are the type of houses one might dream of finding somewhere in need of love, fixing it up with one's spouse, filling it with children and a lifetime of memories.

As early as 1860, homes of the movers and shakers in Starkville were built along the Old Greensboro Road that stretched from the rough-and-tumble early Mississippi community of Greensboro to Columbus.

From the hustle and bustle of cotton wagons along the old road to the quiet little historic district of today, the old road evolved as Starkville has evolved.

The picture of the bell and base of a column is all that is left of the old Oktibbeha County Courthouse (1901-1964). 

Finding a picture of the old courthouse is NOT easy! I've not even found an old postcard! This image is the best I could do this afternoon.

Now I am curious what the pre-1901 Courthouse(s) looked like! It grieves me to see how many counties tear down historic old buildings on a whim. *sigh*
      
The "Jacobethan-style" former middle school is now the Greensboro Center, the headquarters of the Starkville School District.  

Off Again...Through the Windshield

My main kiln is definitely sick. We are taking it to Westpoint to the kiln hospital today. Then back to Starkville for a couple of meetings and then back home to catch up on some porcelain.

The folks in Brusly, Louisiana, may come tar and feather me very soon if I cannot finish their big order of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church ornaments. I don't blame them for being frustrated. I'm beyond frustrated with the production complications we have encountered of late.

We'll fire up Big Bertha today with the ornaments that we have been trying to fire for more than a week in the three malfunctioning kilns. I wonder if a big clap of lightning might have come in on the line during those storms earlier this month to cause this multiple-kiln damage.

Big Bertha takes a day to warm up, a day to fire and a day to cool down.  A bunch of little ornaments will be a very light load for her, but we HAVE no other choice at the moment.

I truly do enjoy making this ornament.  It is the most intricate and most detailed sculpture of a historic building I have made to date. The church is beautiful in real life, and the people there have been very gracious to us.

In this instant, mass production world, folks are not accustomed to the vagaries of handmade porcelain. All we can do in cases like this is "Work the Problem", keep working, keep pushing, work harder until the problems are solved.

I need to make a sign, "Work the Problem", to hang in the studio. That is one of our oft-repeated motivational mantras.

So, with Kiln Calamities hanging over our head yesterday as we traveled the two hours to and two hours from Rolling Fork, there was no time to slow down for pictures in a picturesque Mississippi Delta. 

I tried to capture some of the more interesting sights, presented here in another collection of Through The Windshield shots!

Photo 2: AME Church near Anguilla

Photo 3: Yazoo City showing the steep rise of the earth as one exits the Delta. The Mississippi River once cut through this part of the Delta, cutting deep into the soil. The River has moved over the millennia, leaving a deep deposit of silt that created the rich Delta farmland.

Photo 4: One of the modern machines that tills the soil or plants the seed or sprays the crop with protection.  I grew up on a working farm, and even I am not sure what this particular piece of equipment does.

Farm machinery changes design rapidly as crop production needs are met with complicated equipment.

This would probably be a Ferrari in price...which helps explain the high cost of production for farmers trying to work more efficiently as human labor becomes more difficult to hire and manage.

I never get impatient when driving behind a slow-moving piece of farm equipment. I know first hand how expensive it is to run, own and insure that equipment. The equipment has to come first before many of the expenses the rest of us would consider life's necessities. Farmers don't take their precious equipment out on the highway unless it is absolutely necessary.

Photo 5: An abandoned cotton gin in Anguilla (pronounced Angwilla).

I love old cotton gins.  I can remember going with my uncle to take the cotton to the gin and watching that giant equipment seemingly chew it up and spit out fluffy white clouds devoid of seed or plant material. It was magical to see.

Gordon can't understand why I want to photograph every abandoned cotton gin we see in any state. It is part of my disappearing South... the disappearing world of my childhood growing up on a real working farm.  Even a snatch-and-grab photo shot through a windshield of our van racing back to home and work is my effort to capture a moment in time to savor many years from now... like the abandoned farm buildings in...

Photo 6; Gone are the small farms of yesteryear. Without a reliable pool of labor from which to hire, small family farms have been forced to yield or submit to the large corporate farms that can afford to keep up with the fast-paced changes in agriculture. I try to capture in photograph as many of these abandoned farm buildings as possible. They are rare now, and they will soon be gone forever.

 

 

 

Baths and Feet Are on Me!

Today was Monday in Tuesday's clothes, right?  It must have been!  Monday was so efficient, poised... pro- ductive. *sigh*

I don't want to even think about the malfunctioning kilns, missing files, supplies scattered and disorganized (where once there was order), faxes that would not transmit, shower door latch broken, and a whole lot more Monday- like incidents. 

Any nurse or caretaker of the elderly will be familiar with people who won't take medicine unless you spend thirty minutes patiently watching and cajoling them... or folks who won't take a bath unless you have a hissey fit. The icing on this Monday-like day was two pedicures of 80-something feet.

So while I had the dremmel out, Gordon held three of the little dogs for their pedicures. Elvis, Mackie and Annie were pure angels  One Westie bath and one Westie brush out, and I am all calm and focused again.  The fur babies have that effect on me! 

Then sweet Gordon cooked chicken tenders for our dinner. Actually, he always cooks dinner! I KNOW... I am very, very blessed to have married him!

I wish I could order up an IN ROOM massage or acupuncture, an in-room manicure and pedicure and room service for a favorite meal for each and every one of you. 

Would that not be a perfect tonic for the Mondays that punctuate our week?

A long soak in one of these bed and breakfast bathrooms would be wise therapy right about now.  We are saving space in the renovated bathroom in Grandma's house for one of these corner spa tubs. It may be a few years before we can splurge on one, but it will be worth the wait!

Gordon and I have stayed in all these lovely places during our marriage. We both waited long enough to find each other get married, waiting to do the "romantic little B&B thing", that we justify the few extra dollars when we travel. 

Actually, a B&B is not always more expensive than the cookie- cutter chain hotel rooms. Just clicking through our archived photos to find these pictures has been relaxing therapy!

Photo 1:  Green Springs Bed & Breakfast, St. Francisville, Louisiana

Photo 2 and 3:  Bowie's Tavern, Natchez, Mississippi

Photo 4: Bay Town Inn Bed & Breakfast, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

Photo 5: Elephants Ear Bed & Breakfast, Natchez, Mississippi

Photo 6: Twin Oaks Bed & Breakfast, Natchez, Mississippi

More on the Ruins of Windsor

118 years ago, a guest left a lighted cigar on the balcony of Windsor Mansion.  Or maybe someone dropped a cigarette or cigar into a pile of wood shavings on the third floor where carpenters had been working.

Another account has a guest dropping a lighted cigarette into a waste basket filled with paper.

The owners of Windsor reportedly had ridden (horse and buggy or wagon) into town to get the mail and were on their way back, reportedly about 3 p.m., to prepare for a seated dinner later that day. They saw flames shooting above the tree tops, and they raced in shocked horror toward their beloved home to save what they could.

The fire had started on the third or fourth floor of the mansion and burned all the way down. It was impossible at the time... with the remote location and the scarce manpower and only well water... to save anything.

The largest and finest antebellum mansion ever built in Mississippi had survived the War Between the States, occupation by both Confederate and Union troops, only to be leveled by a cigarette or cigar.

Today, twenty-three fluted columns with iron Corinthian capitals soar 45 feet toward the sky.  Some of the columns are still joined, where once galleries encircled the mighty mansion, by an ornamental iron balustrade.

There is a naked fireplace on the south east corner of the site... missing its chimney. I'm guessing the fireplace belonged to the kitchen, but that is only my guess.

There is also a covered well or cistern near the broken fireplace (see the photos from the March 8th post).

The iron stairs, column capitals and balus- trades were manu -factured in St. Louis and shipped down the Mississippi River to the Port of Bruinsburg several miles west of Windsor. That was during the building of the mansion between 1859 and 1861.

In modern times, the iron stairs were moved to be used in the construction of the chapel at nearby Alcorn State University as were some of the iron balustrades.  As you can see from the pictures, some of the iron balustrades remain at the ruins.

Having lost so much during the War, and then losing their home in 1890, I wonder how Catherine Freeland Daniell, the widow of owner and builder, Smith Coffee Daniell II, and their three children would feel knowing how famous the ruins of their house had become. Smith Coffee Daniell II died just a few months after the family moved into Windsor.  Catherine died in 1903.

Construction continued on the house, and at the time of the fire, the fourth floor ballroom was still incomplete.

There were 25 rooms, each with its own fireplace. Interior baths were supplied by a water tank in the attic.

The dining room was in the ell off the main structure. Directly below in the above ground basement was the kitchen, with the two connected by a dumbwaiter.

The above- ground basement also housed a school room, an on-site dairy, several storage rooms, a commissary and a doctor's office.

David Shroder designed the famous house in Claiborne County, Mississippi... about 10 miles from Port Gibson. Shroder also designed and built Rosswood, which is located in Lorman, Mississippi.

Mark Twain visited Windsor before it burned February 19, 1890.  Some reports tell of Mark Twain walking the rooftop observatory to see the Mississippi River. Twain wrote about Windsor and its elegance in Life on the Mississippi.

The fire destroyed Shroder's original plans along with the Daniell family portraits, pictures and drawings. So except for Twain's words and a few other sketchy descriptions, we did not know what Windsor actually looked like... until...

...1991 when historians discovered a drawing by Henry Otis Dwight, sketched in his journal while his unit was encamped on the grounds of the home. Dwight was an officer in the 20th Ohio Infantry.

You can click on any of these pictures to see a larger version. That will be especially helpful in reading the text on the sign at Windsor that shows the Dwight sketch of the mansion.

After the Battle of Port Gibson, Windsor was used as a hospital for Union troops as well as a strategic observation point overlooking the Mississippi River.

In 1957, Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Cliff, immortalized the ruins in the film "Raintree County."

Windsor Ruins also appear in "Ghosts of Mississippi", starring Whoopi Goldberg, Alec Baldwin and James Woods.

Blogging from Windsor Ruins

Gordon and I are at the Windsor Ruins, near Port Gibson, in Claiborne County, MS.

We can't get a reliable cell phone call out from this secluded site near the Mississippi River, but thanks to a wireless Internet card thingy, we can blog from the actual site.

I wonder if anyone has ever actually blogged live from this famous but obscure site.

The ruins that were once Windsor Mansion, are in the middle of nowhere, cloistered among acres and acres and acres of gullied overgrown timber land. Land that was once fertile cotton fields and subsequently scarred by War and devastating Reconstruction.

Today, Windsor Ruins is the most photographed site in Mississippi. It is not easy to find. There are no big signs and markers pointing the way to the haunting site. And yet, Windsor seduces people from all over the world.

Every time I come to Windsor, I cry. Today was no exception. I cry for my beautiful state that is frequently misunderstood and misrepresented by people who only repeat the misinformation they were taught.

I cry for the human cost of our history, so often written by people who don't know and are not interested in the full story, the true history. 

For me, Windsor is a monument to the resilience of the people of my native state.

Still standing.  Scarred, yes.  Our strength and majesty defaced by tremendous trials.  But like these strong columns, the backbone of the people of my state is still strong and straight and tall.

I am proud of the character of many of the people in my state.  I am proud to be a sixth generation Mississippian.

More pictures and Windsor's story to come.  Gordon and I love the Windsor Ruins!