Well, let me say first that if you found me here, you have way too much time on your hands!
I was born and raised in the South. I’ve lived other places in the country as an adult, and those were exciting times, but my heart always yearned to be back home again. It took me decades to finally hear its voice.
So here I am with my Beloved, Richard, in a little town called Jonesville. It used to be a really pretty town, but like most textile towns in the South, moving the industry out of the country was a death knell. But the few people who are left here are amazingly resilient and big-hearted. Go down to the local Dollar General or the Post Office, and you’ll run into someone you know.
I was born in Hendersonville, North Carolina, but came to Union County, South Carolina, with my mama and sisters when I was about two years old. We lived with our grandfather. Life was simple. Life was good. We grew up out in the Route 3 area. We had the woods to play in, and if we were especially well-behaved, Papa would treat us to a trip to Brown’s Creek. Combine Brown’s Creek with a cold watermelon, and we were living in high cotton.
When I was a little girl, I loved playing in the woods, playing in the dirt, and westerns. One day (I was 4 or 5), I made a noise that struck me as sounding like a wildcat. So I did it again, intentionally, and then shouted out, “I sound like a wildcat! Don’t you think I sound like a wildcat ?” That became one of my nicknames. When I met my future husband and had related that story, he started calling me his Southern Wildcat. And still does.
So here are some of my musings. I hope you enjoy.
Karen MacDowall Haggerty 