Stables at the Faulkner Home
Falling in love with the world becomes easy when there is beauty all around oneself. Though I am a Texas woman who loves the great open spaces it was not difficult to fall in love with the serenity of William Faulkner's home place. Who could not with a beautiful blue sky sprinkled with puffs of white clouds, the verdant shades all around, and a lovely stable. The only thing lacking was horses in the paddock.
Log Building
This log building was probably used for horse tack and maybe a blacksmith at one time. I didn't ask, but it was near the newer built stables.
It was a delightful morning when I was shown this gorgeous piece of Oxford, MS by Jeff Gooding. Of course, being with someone I care about made the visit that much more enjoyable. He took me to BBB (Big Bad Breakfast) in town before driving me to see this lovely place. Rowan Oak is right in town, but it could be miles away from civilization. Perhaps Oxford grew up around Rowan Oak, but it is said that William Faulkner would walk into the downtown area most every day.
It sounds like an idyllic life, but we know that Mississippi was anything but idyllic for anyone of color until the most recent times. Oxford was no exception. The Civil Rights Movement began in Alabama, but it was Mississippi on Rosa Parks' mind when she made the ultimate decision to sit in the front of the bus rather than moving to the back of it as she was instructed. It was Emmett Till of whom she was thinking: "I thought of Emmett Till, and I just couldn't go back."
The tragic and horrifying story of fourteen year old Emmett Till's kidnapping, torture, lynching and subsequent disposal of Emmett's body in the Tallahatchie River by Mississippi men. These men weighted down Emmett's body with a 75 pound cotton gin fan evidently hoping their murderous actions would not be discovered. I am supplying a link to the story of Emmett Till, but PLEASE NOTE, it is extremely disturbing: http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/biographies/a/Emmett-Till.htm
This egregious act made world-wide news and helped spark the Civil Rights Movement. It was a dark time in our history, but it needs to be remembered.
You may ask why I would incorporate this story into a piece of "how to fall in love with the world", well, all I can say is this and many other events are part of Mississippi and the South, but still the natural beauty remains even amongst the darkest of our times. It is important that we remember the atrocities of our fellow humans so hopefully we will not slide back into that time. History does have a way of repeating itself in one form or another. The prejudices move up and down the spectrum of life; anyone who is different is apt to be on the receiving end of prejudice.
Still, it is uplifting to see the beauty that surrounds us. Until today I didn't know there would be a Part 2 of "How to Fall in Love with the World"; I'm happy it came about and maybe there will be more parts to follow.
