Howard, your post invoked a bit of nostalgia in
me for my childhood years growing up in the
South. We lived down South for a total of about
eight years, which might not seem very long,
but they were formative years. We moved to
South Carolina when I was two, and then to
North Carolina when I was seven.

Despite having "Nawth'ner" parents, my
sisters and I undoubtedly picked up some of
the language and culture of the South. I'm
sure I got some weird looks from my
classmates after we moved back north when I
used expressions like "y'all" and "reckon," or
talked about "sweet tea" or "grits." It probably
took a few years for the Carolinas accent to
wear off as well.

What are some of my memories of living in the
South? Let's see... tar heels... palmetto
trees... Myrtle Beach... grits... sweet tea... the
piedmont... Southern Baptist hospitallity...
chitlins... Carowinds... pine bark... cicadas...
Country Cousins pork barbecue... water
towers that looked like peaches... our big
black station wagon...

Gri"likes grits"shny