The Southern drawl is losing out to Southern sprawl.
Is Atlanta too busy to notice all the azaleas and dogwoods in a profusion of bloom this spring? Along roads aflame in pink and white, we find snarled traffic and road rage. Lone drivers in huge SUVs shake fists at corporate CEOs in convertibles. Many other drivers, trapped in the daily creep-and-beep traffic, just seethe quietly. If we make it home after the commute, forget the garden.
Should we dare to sit on our back porch, or condo balcony, fumes from leaf blowers mixed with the pollen whipped up by the blowers choke us. No one can breathe that noxious mix of gasoline and pine powder.
If we go inside, where the noise of the blowers and riding mowers is a few decibels lower, something else attacks --- telemarketers. "This is a courtesy call," we hear. What is courteous about a ringing phone and someone seeking our money? At suppertime? Is this what's become of Southern hospitality?
The sound we need to clear our heads and lighten our hearts is the pure sound of spring bird song first thing in the morning. The only important business is that of the squirrels scurrying over the lawns and up the oaks.
Turn off the blowers. Turn off CNN. Get out of the car and walk. Disconnect the telephone and get off the Internet. Relax, enjoy. It's spring, y'all!
JACK MILLER, Atlanta
Jack Miller is director of media at a local private school. Born in Savannah, he has lived in Atlanta 18 years. He enjoys tennis and travel abroad.