Southern Women

This week has been a blast of family Kearney fun. As normal, Kearneys usually have the most fun when together. We went to Taylor Swift and Julianna and I touched her hand! And Mommy and I attended "Celebrating Eudora," an amazing concert at Agnes Scott.

Here are my thoughts concerning both.

At Agnes over the past weeks, I've realized how much I love being from Georgia and identifying with Southern Tradition. These feelings culminated between these two concerts, even though Taylor is from Pennsylvania, her fan base is the modern Southern girl and Chapin Carpenter is from New Jersey, her Americana has always spoken on a specific level those below Maryland. I think one of the reasons Agnes is still thriving when other women's colleges are switching over to coed is because it is in the south. President Kiss is driving the college in the right direction, with the support of the surrounding community, striving for an institution that makes Southern women. Strong, sassy, independent, rooted in history, but growing towards a future.

The Southern woman in my mind that these women with guitars sung to was the one who called Welty "Miss Eudora" before she could read. Her favorite B-52 is Kate. Her family visited Rock City and she got a souvenir ceramic. She would rather have a wisteria covered wall at her home then attend an Ivy League school. April doesn't start for her until dogwoods bloom. Houses, in her mind, are supposed to have front porches. She sings both Gladys and the Pips' parts in "Midnight Train to Georgia" until she marries a man that will be gladly sing back up.

When I was little, I dreamed of escaping Georgia. I wanted to go to school and live anywhere but here. I wanted to go to Philadelphia and go to Bryn Mawr, alma mater of Katharine Hepburn. But Agnes is perfect for me. And I'm thinking because Bryn Mawr raises roses of women, with pretty petals and plenty of sassy thorns, but those thorns are on the outside of the flower. A southern magnolia keeps the thorns and sass to herself on the inside of the petals.