My travels for Mississippi Today are taking me to the Delta tomorrow and Friday. I love the Delta for reasons that are at times hard to explain. It’s a land of extremes — maybe that is why it piques my imagination like it does. Some of the best short stories I’ve written are based there. (It and the Gulf Coast both hold the title for most settings for stories.) Maybe it is the rich soil or just the chemical spray from a crop-duster flying over that makes me so creative. Who knows. Speaking of agricultural aviators, I love to watching the pilots fly their yellow planes up and down the fields, spraying whatever it is they are spraying with accuracy that is beyond mortal pilots’ skills. You have to think the Blue Angels would watch the aerial ballet and think, “Well damn. That’s good!”

Tomorrow I’m heading to Clarksdale and Friday night, I’ll be in Greenville (and in a tux). I’ve spoken in both communities recently and have friends in both places. So it will be a good trip full of warmth and a laughter.

I’ll post some photos and describe what I see in this space. Stay tuned.