King Cotton

The sun is as yellow as a daffodil floating in a sea of blue. From high above, it reaches down to warm a vast expanse of smoky-black earth that smells like river. The cotton is flourishing — clear-to-the-horizon fields of it are broken by groves of pecan trees, whispering to each other in a rustle of leaves. And though you can't see Old Man hidden behind the levee, you can feel his presence--the twisting, turning, mighty, muddy presence of the Mississippi River. -Valerie Fraser Luesse, Delta Journal

I wish they'd had electric guitars in cotton fields back in the good old days. A whole lot of things would've been straightened out. ~jimi hendrix

Cotton is a major crop in Mississippi. It ranks third behind poultry and forestry in state commodities with $598 million dollars of revenue produced each year.
Mississippi producers plant approximately 1.1 million acres of cotton annually. This number seems to fluctuates depending on weather, price of production and current commodity markets.

I was influenced a lot by those around me - there was a lot of singing that went on in the cotton fields. ~willie nelson

Cotton remained a key crop in the Southern economy after emancipation and the end of the Civil War in 1865. Across the South, sharecropping evolved, in which free black farmers and landless white farmers worked on white-owned cotton plantations of the wealthy in return for a share of the profits. Cotton plantations required vast labor forces to hand-pick cotton, and it was not until the 1950s that reliable harvesting machinery was introduced into the South (prior to this, cotton-harvesting machinery had been too clumsy to pick cotton without shredding the fibers).

When I was a little bitty baby
My mama would rock me in the cradle,
In them old cotton fields back home;
Oh, when them cotton bolls get rotten
You can’t pick very much cotton,
In them old cotton fields back home.
~LeadBelly

I was a typical farm boy. I liked the farm. I enjoyed the things that you do on a farm, go down to the drainage ditch and fish, and look at the crawfish and pick a little cotton. ~sam donaldson

From the time of its gaining statehood in 1817 to 1860, Mississippi became the most dynamic and largest cotton-producing state in America.

After all those days in the cotton fields, the dreams came true on a gold record on a piece of wood. It's in my den where I can look at it every day. I wear it out lookin' at it. ~carl perkins

Sunflowers, Sisters, and Sweet Memories

My sister, Kelley, loved sunflowers. At one time, she had a kitchen full of sunflowers! Dishes, pictures, clocks, seat covers, towels, magnets, rugs. I will always think of her with sweet memories when I see a sunflower and this photoblog is dedicated to her.

Flowers are those little colorful beacons of the sun from which we get sunshine when dark, somber skies blanket our thoughts. ~Dodinsky

Is solace anywhere more comforting than in the arms of a sister. ~Alice Walker

If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom. ~Terri Guillemets

In thee my soul shall own combined the sister and the friend. ~Catherine Killigrew

Flowers have an expression of countenance as much as men or animals. Some seem to smile; some have a sad expression; some are pensive and diffident; others again are plain, honest and upright, like the broad-faced sunflower. ~Henry Ward Beecher

A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost. ~Marion C. Garretty

Deep in their root, all flowers keep the light. ~Theodore Roethke

I would like more sisters, that the taking out of one, might not leave such stillness. ~Emily Dickinson

(All sunflowers grown/harvested by my husband during summer of 2010 and photographs taken by me.)

Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival

Twenty four years ago, I lived in West Memphis, Arkansas and was the mother of a four-month old daughter. During that same time, my hometown, Clarksdale, had given birth to one of their babies - the Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival. And like my daughter, it has grown and taken on a life of its own.

The 24th annual Sunflower Fest is scheduled to start this Friday, August 12. Tourists, visitors, artists, and friends are already in town. The numbers will grow throughout the week. They come from all over the world. Several make the trek every year. I've only attended a little over half of the festivals. Actually, it was in its third or fourth year before I was even aware of it. I had happened to come home for a visit and it was going on. Was pleasantly surprised.

My Daddy, Don "Boogie Woogie" Mooneyhan

My Daddy had known about the festival from the beginning and, except for the last couple of years, came to Clarksdale for all the festivals. Many times he came down from Tate County, Mississippi, with Mr. Otha Turner, R. L. Boyce, and the Rising Star Fife and Drum Band. After they would play their first venue, Daddy would ride with the group in the back of an old truck, singing and playing, to the main stage. Mr. Turner has passed away. I think Daddy sees R.L. from time to time and Mr. Turner's granddaughter, Sharde, carries on the tradition of fife playing. The band continues to make the yearly pilgrimage to Clarksdale.

Daddy at Stovall, checking out Muddy's Blues Trail Marker.

Other musicians on the agenda for this year include Pat Thomas, Kenny Brown, T-Model Ford, Bill Abel, and Johnny "Duck" Holmes. The Delta Blues Museum Band kicks off the festival on the main stage, Friday at 4:15. There will be many acts at various venues throughout the weekend. To name a few, Ground Zero Blues Club, Red's, Bluesberry Cafe, The Den, Hopson Commissary, and Cathead. For full schedules check out individual websites. The festival website is www.sunflowerfest.org.

One of my favorite bands, the members of which are really dear friends, will play one of my favorite venues on Saturday night, August 13. Blues Award winner, James "Super Chikan" Johnson and the Fighting Cocks will be at Ground Zero Blues Club. No matter where I see them play, or how many times I see them on stage, they bring the house down. The entertainment does not get any better, in my opinion. Below are pics from their performances at the 2010 Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival.

"Super Chikan and The Fighting Cocks"

Super Chikan and guest, Baby Boy

Jamiesa Turner

Torey Todora (filling in for Heather Tackett Falduto)

And my very dear friend, LaLa

The Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival is just one of the many treasures Clarksdale has to offer. Come visit my hometown!

Delta Backroads

"knows the cure is to go buzzing around these delta backroads with my camera, a cold beverage, and pandora on the airwaves. come on cooler weather. please."

i posted this as my status on facebook earlier today. and there's no truer statement. i've gone down delta backroads many a time to cure what ails me. and the rare times i couldn't be fixed, the ride sure made me better than i was.

riding the roads of the delta is something i've done near daily for the past 49 years. the ride is a ritual. it is in my blood. not sure that i could exist without riding delta backroads. i can do it solo or with a loved one. i've just got to do it.

i hear so many comments from those visiting the delta for the first time about how flat and vast the land is. many think that what they see is the way the delta has always looked. definitely not so. many, many changes have taken place. wish i could print the picture i see in my mind so they could see how it was when i was just a small girl. seems you could just look out and see flat land for days.

i've watched the cycles of planting and harvesting in the fields. depending on the time of year, the view is either lush spreads of green, solid fields of white, or barren winter brown. i've seen the delta land go from being dusty, bone-dry, and thirsting for rain to later covered over with water from the melting northern rivers and flashfloods.

i've seen tenant shacks, massive barns, grain elevators, beautiful old homes, backroads, and hundreds of acres of cropland vanish before my eyes and replaced with massive monster-like casinos, shopping centers, hotels, parking lots, and subdivisions. Not to mention miles and miles of highway.

i've deeply expanded my appreciation of music because of my delta backroad trips. remember that music is definitely an intregal part of any delta backroad trip. i've gone from having just AM radio, to FM radio, 8 tracks, cassettes, cds, satellite, and currently my favorite, pandora. just as the scenery changes on every backroad trip, so should the musical background.

i've traveled delta backroads both as a passenger and as the navigator. and i must say i favor being the navigator. navigating is my cup of tea. especially when i don't know where i'm going. on really good trips, there is no dictation of direction. and usually, no road goes the same place twice. for sure, no matter where i go or how far, i always find my way home.

if you happen to visit the mississippi delta, come on down to clarksdale, my hometown, and treat yourself to a ride on one of my delta backroads. i'm sure it'll cure what ails you. so come on and ride those blues away.

and remember, all delta backroad trips are guaranteed memorable adventures!

{all photographs taken by me during my backroad ventures}

Shall We Try This Again?

My friend Rose, started a wonderful blog. It's about her love for all things Clarksdale. And the Delta. And music. And the South.

It brought to mind this blog I started a year ago and then just left here out on its own. Not a bit more attention paid to it.

But Rosie's words motivated me to jump start this thing and try to get back at it.

So, I shall start this journey again. Wonder which direction I should go?