Dear Friends and Readers,
Summer hit my little farm this week. Temps above 90; killer humidity. Ugh. Not the most fun, but so far no hurricanes so I am counting my lucky stars. Weather around the world is getting more extreme and more violent. The planet is tired of abuse—or at least that’s what I believe. Mother Earth is striking back. I can’t say I blame her.
I’m going to launch a challenge: How many weeks can you go without purchasing something you don’t actually need? We have to have food, power, water, etc. But I know that I have a house full of things I paid hard-earned money for and I never use. I suspect most people are like that, with a few rare exceptions. My dad grew up during the Great Depression. He was far smarter than most people because in the 1970s he was talking to me about how Americans (and many industrialized societies around the world) were burning through natural resources with no thought to the damage being done to the planet or to themselves. Our oceans are awash in deadly plastics. Landfills store mountains of trash. Oil industry waste is buried in wetlands where no one sees what it is doing. Salt domes are used to store spent nuclear fuel. We have created a nightmare for the next generations. And no one seems willing to make small sacrifices to stop this, or at least slow it down.
Americans are great innovators, and new technology is springing up all around the world. I hope we can fix this issue, but the human animal seems more determined to spend himself deeper into the quagmire than to solve it. We are addicted to cheap stuff that breaks and ends up in landfills. Or in the back of your closet.
So think about cutting back on everything. I definitely need to cut back on the groceries I chow down on. I don’t buy a lot of things anymore because I don’t like to shop. When I was younger, it was fun and I get the joy of finding something really cool to have. But let’s all take a step back—in the excessive way we treat the planet as if we are the only people who matter. I have never understood the hatred of green energy by some of the population. Yeah, if you’re hauling heavy equipment or horse trailers, you might not want an e-vehicle. Or if you live in rural areas where charging stations aren’t readily available. But what is not to love about a quiet, easy to maintain vehicle that doesn’t use gas. Yes, the batteries! I’ve heard that a million times. But they are learning how to recycle the batteries. Cool!
So that’s my little newsletter rant and now on to the fun stuff. Books! We’ll soon be reissuing 4 Harlequin Intrigues that I wrote as Caroline Burnes. I have the rights back to many of them and we’ll be bringing them back as digital books.
 |
| Let’s have an evening of banter, prizes, books, and snacks! |
Don’t forget the book signings—May 29 from 5:30 to 7 at the Haunted Bookshop in Mobile, and May 31 at G&D Feed from 10:30 a.m. until noon. Stop by, have a few laughs, and explore some books or other gift items. It’ll be a blast.
 |
And as a special treat, Priya Bhakta, now president of KaliOka Press, has some words and photos to share of her terrific journey through the heart of the Mississippi Delta. Priya went to explore some of the places I hold so dear. Enjoy!
Dear Readers,
I remember when I first set foot in the Delta, I was with Carolyn. We traveled a couple of times for some book publicity events 15 years ago to Clarksdale and Vicksburg. I couldn’t fully appreciate the history and legends of the land and people at the time, but I made another pilgrimage this month and I was fully immersed and enchanted.
 |
| The Pharr Mounds were built and used 1-200 A.D.by the natives who returned to this site to bury the dead. |
 A beautiful drive along the trace |
|---|
Jim and I traveled most of the Natchez Trace with a side trip on the Blues Trail. Can you believe I tripped and busted my knee and face on the first day of the trip? I was videoing a cat and didn’t notice the sidewalk had a raised lip, so I tumbled down. But it didn’t slow me down too much. I was eager to explore what the week had in store for me.
The Trace was beautiful, we saw wild turkeys and blackbirds scuttling on the edges of the rolling meadows. Emerald Mound was captivating and surrounded by intrigue–it spans across 8 acres which makes it the second largest temple mound in the U.S. Can you imagine being an ancestor of the Natchez Indians when it was built and used between the years of 1300 to 1600?
I like how there are tons of mile posts to stop at and learn about the land. The Old Trace could be a dangerous journey in the 18th-19th century, as you had to risk encountering murderous thieves (like highwayman Samuel Mason) and wild animals and challenging weather and terrain, not to mention shortages of water and food. Well, at one particular mile post, we embarked on a 5-minute walk to a gravesite of 13 unknown Confederate Soldiers at the Old Trace. But it was getting close to sunset and we were suddenly spooked by what we had read. I said to Jim, “We better get back to the car – what if Samuel Mason is out to get us?!” So we raced back to the car like fools. Ha ha.
 Windsor Ruins |
|---|
Windsor Ruins took my breath away. The plantation was built in 1861 and a devastating fire burned it down 29 years later, leaving behind 29 columns. It feels like a time portal and I saw a little caterpillar on the sign in front of it, which felt symbolic to me.
 My cute totebag from the Eudora Welty gift shop. |
|---|
When we got to Jackson, we toured Eudora Welty’s home and gardens. In the museum portion of the tour, we were treated to a short film where we were introduced to Ms. Welty’s sharp sense of humor. What a hoot she was. She was beloved in the community. I learned that admirers of her work would quietly stop by on her porch with a bag of her books– and the next day they’d return and see that each book had been signed by Eudora.
If you visit, make sure you venture all the way down past the gardens to where her secret clubhouse is. And be sure to purchase the super cute totebag in the giftshop. I love mine!
 How can I miss someone I’ve never met? |
|---|
One of my favorite stops was the BB King Museum in Indianola, MS. Oh my goodness, this place knocked my socks off. You are given a stylus pen and headphones to engage in the interactive displays. The first stop is an in-house theater playing a BB King concert which sets the tone for the exhibit. It took us 4 hours to complete touring the museum. I needed 30 minutes more, but it was getting close to closing time, and we just had to hit up the gift shop so we could walk away with something of this grand experience. We were BAWLING like babies once we got to the last room, just before it leads outside to where his grave is.
I could listen to BB King talk about ANYTHING and be so happy about it. Is there anyone more affable than him? It cannot be denied that anyone who has had the pleasure of having a conversation with him or experiencing his live performances is a blessed and lucky soul.
 Robert Johnson’s gravesite |
|---|
Have I been talking your ear off? I promise I’ll wind it down in just a bit. So.. I bet everyone knows about blues musician Robert Johnson. More than a decade ago, when I stayed overnight in the upstairs loft at Morgan Freeman’s Ground Zero Blues Club, I overheard Carolyn and her author friends chatting about the legend of how Robert Johnson went to the crossroads to make a bargain with the devil. Isn’t that story simply wild? What a scream. I didn’t think too much of it back then, but this month, I got all caught up in this dark mystery and his remarkable life story.
We learned more at the Delta Blues Museum. Visitors are prohibited from taking photos so I have nothing to share, but if you go, be sure to check out Muddy Waters’ cabin which they transported inside of the actual museum.
Side note: I think I’m becoming a cranky old lady because I saw a young man blatantly recording things in the museum and I narrowed my eyes at him signaling to him that he was violating the rules. But he didn’t flinch. He kept recording. The audacity.
 |
| Elvis’s TV Room and Living Room at Graceland |
When we got to Memphis, we visited Sun Records studio and, of course, Graceland– where we spent a whopping 9 hours. I’m one of those annoying tourists that just has to see EVERY little thing, so yes, it took me all day to explore as much as I could. Graceland was beautiful.
 This is the home where Elvis was born. |
|---|
Side note: It’s confirmed I’ve become a cranky old lady because I was miffed about the crowds. I believe 10 people should visit at a time, every 30 minutes or so. I was crammed in with a busload of people so it was difficult to comfortably drift from room to room. There’s so much to see and read and I was appreciative of how immersive the exhibits were. It made me super excited to head down to Tupelo, MS where this outstanding man was born.
 The fabulous ducks strutting on the red carpet at the Peabody Hotel |
|---|
Oh but first, we did a very touristy thing of checking out the ducks being led into the elevator at the Peabody Hotel. A literal red carpet is rolled out for these ducks, can you imagine that? Fancy.
Visiting Elvis’s birthplace was another fabulous experience. Everything is on a compound featuring a museum, theatre, park, and church. Speaking of, there’s a tour guide stationed at the church, and she will liven up your spirits with her galvanizing performance as she seats you and gets the crowd to sing along a hymn or two directly after watching a short film. But my favorite part was the story wall which featured quotes from those who knew Elvis at a young age.
We didn’t have time to visit Rowan Oak or Nashville or more sites on the Blues Trail. The highest up the Trace we traveled up to was the Meriwether Lewis monument. I vow to return. The parkway itself is 444 miles of a scenic drive. But at this point, my busted knee had cried foul and we ran into car trouble. That being said, my soul was nourished and my heart was full. We listened to the blues all the way back home to Mobile, Alabama.
I’m about to head to sleep and the song I’m playing right now to feel mellow is The Thrill is Gone. Yes, I’m fangirling BB King yet again. Can you blame me?
Wishing you sweet dreams for tonight,
Priya
P.S. Every menu I encountered, I had hoped to see something called “Natchez Nachos”. No such luck. But isn’t that the perfect name for a dish at a restaurant along the Trace? Ugh, I’m such a sucker for alliteration.