Southern Wisdom

I don't miss a whole lot about the South.

I don't miss the bugs...or the humidity....or the hot sticky weather that makes your sweat coat your skin like baby oil. I don't miss the smell of algae blooms, really, or the way that sawgrass makes your legs bleed, or the little barbed stickers that get caught in your shoelaces. It's all endearing... I guess... but if I never see another mutant giant hand-sized male mosquito again, I think I'll live.

But something I do miss about the South is the FOOD, and I miss the way that Southerners treat meals. In the Midwest---the land of "da bears" and Sunday churchgoers, of the last remaining pieces of old town America, and of depressed, suicidal alkie writers---it seems like people, generally, eat to survive; like the winters don't permit much leisure, so you gotta eat what you can while you can. The most hardy Midwestern farmer will advise you to store up for the winter, because God knows it's a brutal widowmaking beast. The snowdrifts will suck the life and the calories right through you, despite several layers of padded walrus/beluga-blubber lined fur coats. Thus you must eat. Fast. Otherwise you won't make it through February.

However, the Southern climate permits a different attitude toward eating: a more wholistic, gentler, maternal approach. Instead of eating to live, Southerners live to eat: and thus, we cater to much more deep-fried, sodium-soaked tastes. Meals take hours instead of half-hours. They are social gatherings: bonding times. A meal done right is something beautiful--not just because it tastes good--but because it draws people together.



Take, for instance, the Southern ode, Fried Green Tomatoes. Now, I love the movie....haven't read the book....I hear the book is quite a bit raunchier -- in a feminist, LGBT kind of way.... But basically the movie is about two Southern women who start a BBQ cafe in the 1920s, and the whole story is tied together with food... from church events to weddings, from honeybees to giving food to the homeless: there is always, ALWAYS a meal involved. This mentality, while not exclusively Southern, is distinctly Southern. A meal is an tangible and delicious expression of love. It says: "God gave you taste buds for a reason. And I appreciate your taste buds."

I think this is probably why Jesus is an excellent cook. This is the guy who invented chocolate and coffee....who came up with the idea of eggs and cheese and tomatoes.... And I would SELL MY CAR to eat some of Jesus's fresh-catch, fire-fried fish next to Lake Michigan. Or Lake Galilee. You know, wherever.

So, in the Southern tradition in which I was raised, I would say that meals should be more than required caloric intakes, more than just Red Bulls and granola bars and industry-sized chunks of soymeat. At home, I feel this is true...and in my experience, most of our family meals are centered around a meal being more about the food. I'm glad God gave us tongues and the brains to understand chemicals by tasting them. It's like a heightened sense of learning. And, for that, I should be thankful. I should try to have a spiritual sense of slowness when eating; to share meals; to take breaths in between bites; to treat myself to chocolate and strawberries; to feed people--not just soup or taco bell--but real, hearty meals like baked potatoes and cheese. For meals are expressions of love and relationship, and they are meant to be enjoyed.