In the South by the grace of God...

Well, it's been interesting seeing what's around.

One thing I have noticed: there is altogether too much federal highway money kicking around -- there are four lane divided highways throughout the South with little to no traffic. I was driving along highways with no-one else around... one could go 80 mph even in driving rain.

Another: the roadside motel is an under-appreciated institution -- I'm at a Days Inn in a town called Opelika, Alabama, and it's cheap, clean, and in excellent condition.

My mother is in a panic, because, well, I'm in the South. And what she knows of the South is newsreel footage from Birmingham (which I'm about a hundred miles southeast of, incidentally), from her college days.

I'm finding that I quite like it, however. Everyone is very pleasant, from the security guards at my friend's gated community house, to the black lady who rented me this hotel room, to the cashiers at the Piggly Wiggly I stopped at in Fenix City, Alabama (right near the bridge to Columbus, Georgia), when I took a wrong turn.

Oh, and the waitstaff at Cajun Corner, in Eufaula, Alabama, where I stopped for a very filling lunch.

And being able to drive just under 80 on the interstate, because one can always drive ten over the limit before the state police decide to give you a ticket.

***

Exit question: why do people live in the Northeast?

I can understand why people go to school there -- the old universities are lovely and great -- but why stay?