The New South

We are visiting friends in Rock Hill, South Carolina.  Yesterday we took a lovely ride on Wylie Lake on a pontoon boat.  Riding around a lake, one sees the many mansions that millionaires have built.  There were dozens and dozens of them (and it wasn't a huge lake).  One wonders where so much wealth comes from!  Some of the homes would easily rival castles in Europe.  And many are only occupied on the weekends!  The owner of the boat recalled hearing that one of the homes had a million dollars worth of plumbing hardware. 

This is not the old south of my childhood, by any means.   Rock Hill is not far from Charlotte, NC and clearly the whole area is fully developed, economically vital, and progressive.  In our travels, we did see some cotton that was ripe and ready to be harvested, though cotton is no longer king in the south.  One thing in abundance in both the old and new south----churches!  Churches are central to life here, the source of most schools (as opposed to public education);  as the source of most sports;  as the source of worship, fellowship, relationships.   That is one thing that seems to be the same as I remember.

Another difference---lots of sunshine!   It is good to see other parts of the world, from time to time.  This part is new to me, but also reminds me in many ways of my childhood.   Especially the vegetation, and the red clay soil,  the sandy lawn.   It smells like my childhood!  

It is definitely true that smells and memory go together!