A Look at 2016

A Look at 2016

www.porchscene.com

Our home—the South—is a beautiful, haunted, place that’s full of contradiction and mystery. Even those of us who have lived here for all or part of our lives have a hard time explaining it, or our mindsets about it. To help us better understand it, PorchScene is attempting to share our world with those who have no knowledge of it at all and to reveal some things to our residents that they may not know either.

Through the unique voices of our excellent contributors who were willing to put their Southern experience on our pages, we’ve tried to continue our intention of presenting the South from multiple perspectives. Here are some examples of their efforts in 2016.

Of course, it would be impossible to talk about life below the Mason-Dixon line without some mention of food. There were numerous culinary articles throughout the year, but Distinctive Dining at: http://porchscene.com/2016/05/31/distinctive-dining-in-mississippi/ by transplant, Joe Goodell, and Spring Quiche at:  http://porchscene.com/2016/03/29/quiche-by-southfacin-cook/ and How to Make Banana Pudding like a True Southerner, by our own Southfacin’ Cook, Patsy Brumfield,  http://porchscene.com/2016/07/05/how-to-make-classic-banana-pudding-like-a-true-southerner/ are several great ones to check out. For a humorous look at some of our food habits, there was Sometimes you Feel Like a Nut, Sometimes Not! http://porchscene.com/2016/10/03/sometimes-you-feel-like-a-nut-sometimes-not/ and we also introduced you to food historian and super personality, Michael Twitty in Southern Cuisine–A Cultural Collision, both by Deborah Fagan Carpenter  http://porchscene.com/2016/09/01/southern-cuisine-a-cultural-collision/.

Gary Wright gave us some insight into our history in Fort Mims Massacre, http://porchscene.com/2016/10/10/fort-mims-massacre/ Ghosts of Cahaba, http://porchscene.com/2016/09/14/ghosts-of-cahaba/ Lamentable Southern History, http://porchscene.com/2016/05/23/lamentable-southern-history/and the first edition of his three- part series, about the Last Slaver Ship in ON A DISTANT SHORE http://porchscene.com/2016/11/28/on-a-distant-shore/. Tom Lawrence shed some light on a piece of the civil rights movement with, CLAUDETTE COLVIN http://porchscene.com/2016/03/21/claudette-colvin/, and we looked into the face of some of our current racial strife in The Power of Reasonable Action http://porchscene.com/2016/07/12/the-power-of-reasonable-action/.

Joe Goodell is looking at the state of Mississippi with fresh eyes, and a couple of examples of his view of the Magnolia state were presented in Mississippi Bound http://porchscene.com/?s=mississippi+bound and THE “S” IN MISSISSIPPI http://porchscene.com/?s=the+s+in+mississippi.

For a view of some of our humanity, there was THE HUG http://porchscene.com/?s=the+hug by Mollie Waters and Merry Christmas, Navy http://porchscene.com/2016/12/23/merry-christmas-navy/, another good piece by Gary Wright.

For a look at our lighter side, there was IT’S FIXIN’ TO RAIN!  http://porchscene.com/2016/07/27/its-fixin-to-rain/,  okra, grits, and yes, ma’am, please http://porchscene.com/2016/09/21/okra-grits-and-yes-maam-please-2/, and a touching tribute in So He Built a Wall  http://porchscene.com/2016/11/21/so-he-built-a-wall/.

If you missed some of these great pieces or want to check out all of our posts throughout our nearly four years, you can always log onto the home page at www.porchscene.com. If you aren’t a subscriber and want to be notified each time there’s a new article, just follow the easy subscription instructions on the site. We’re always interested in your feedback, so please feel free to send us suggestions through the comments section.

Thank you for your continued support of this Southern Blog.

Happy 2017 to “All  Ya’ll!”