Mason Dixon Et Al

Mason Dixon.  Without the hypenation.  That's where I am from.  Specifically, Baltimore.  The burbs in an area called Woodlawn. I have southern blood.

For starters, Dad's family is from North Carolina, mostly toward the Piedmont and eastern side.  Mom's mother, my Nana, was from London and married a man from southern Maryland. That's Calvert County, Maryland, on the Chesapeake Bay.  Naturally, I am drawn to water.  Add to that, a Scorpio sign and voila!

We grew up eating canned hominy (grits), fried chicken, creamed chipped beef (a Maryland treat), pineapple upside down cake, lots of seafood, corn bread and floured gravy.  It was only when I married that I removed the flour in gravy going for a more natural dripping.  Most of the food was tasteless, homage to my Nana's English roots and southern cooking.  I suspect there must be a branch of the south that historically used herbs.  That deserves more investigation.

My parents were always in the woods ~ away from the hustle and bustle.  Mom had a background in earth science (academic) and Dad was a naturalist-type of person.  Between the two of them, just about everything in nature could be identified. Whether mountains or oceans.  Dad's knowledge bank, from what I remember, was more broad.  I think he preferred the woods and solace more than Mom.  Both of my parents were quite social creatures.  There were always people in our home, either for coffee, swimming or social parties.

Even as that young child, deep in the woods, my senses were acute.  I could feel animals nearby before we saw them.  My Dad dubbed me, "the good looker."  I could find anything.

Naturally, my roots include some northern sensibilities.  I am comfortable most anywhere on the east coast.  My heart lies in the southern Appalachians.  It is where I live.  It is where my soul is home.