Things I love about the south.

As you probably know, I've been in Mississippi for the past week or so for work. Being down here has reminded me of some things I love about the south...
First of all, Spring! Here it is, late February/early March, and it's 75 degrees and sunny. Back home in Vermont, it was -6 when I left, with 8" of fresh snow. It felt like spring was on the way, but spring is definitely here in Mississippi. Though I guess you pay for the nice spring with a sweltering summer. That has its positive things too.
Genuinely friendly people. Don't get me wrong, people in Vermont and Maine (and everywhere else I've been) are friendly too, but it seems people really care about how you're doing. One of the guys on the site here went out of his way to welcome me back "home" (since word had gotten around that I had sort of grown up in Starkville). It really can be pretty amazing.
Noises at night. I realize after being down here again just how quiet night in Vermont is. Not that it's a bad thing, I'd much prefer silence to city noises, for example. But down here, there are the spring peepers (tree frogs), crickets, cicadas (at certain times of year), and the occasional thunderstorm.
Thunderstorms! I love them. There's nothing quite like having the night light up by intensely bright lightning, then having your ears blasted by thunder than feels right on top of you. Not to mention the downpours that come from the storms. It'll rain so hard it's worse visibility than the worst snowstorms I've been in. Awesome.
Smells. This is a bit hard to describe, but there's just a sort of lush tropical smell down here, even this time of year. It's not the full blown lush smell of summer, but it's enough to remind me. The Bahamas have it even more. Also, driving around town and smelling the smoke from a BBQ is quite nice too and somehow sentimental as well.
Southfarm. I don't know what it is about that place, but I love it. It's just gravel roads than crisscross a bunch of pastures, but for some reason, it's one of my favorite places, anywhere. If they were ever going to shut it down or try to make a parking lot out of it, I'd be the first (and probably only) one to protest and lay down in front of a bulldozer. What is it about that place?
And lastly (of the things that come to mind anyway), Starkville still sort of feels like "home". I don't know why it is. I suppose because I spent so many years there growing up, and it really hasn't changed much. The people I was fond of growing up are mostly still there and still good people. When I visited campus today, it felt like I'd never left. It's been almost a year since I moved away, but it could have been yesterday. Don't worry, I don't think I'll ever move back there, but I'll always go back to visit.
I'll post more about my trip to Starkville before long. Just wanted to get this down while it was fresh in my head.