I left Richmond two days ago and I’m surprised at the mixed feelings. There’s a part of me that actually misses it. I don’t know if that’s about missing any place that could be “home,” or if I truly felt affinity for southern Virginia. On the other hand, Virginia is a conservative state, and the signs and underlying bitter “Tea Party Republican” sentiments seemed to create alienation and jealous passive-aggressive behaviors throughout the Common Wealth. People smile on the surface, but within the safety of their cars, they lurk in each other’s blind spots, peeking into the cars of the other… waiting for a reaction… any reaction that might contradict their feelings of impotence and isolation.

So I’m here in Dublin, Georgia. An area full of beauty and acreage dripping in humidity. Each house is separated from from the other by at least an acre of lush, green land. It’s like this all over the South, but I’m searching for what I hope is the one area where “tradition” … this bastardized, ignorant, American Nazi mentality has been neutralized enough for this traumatized Californian to live enough years in the peace sufficient to heal.