Why not come home?

Since coming home to the Mississippi Delta (almost one year ago), people meet me with the same, sincere question, “so how are you adjusting”? Time and again, Deltans ask the question with a hint of hesitation in the voice, as if there is an apprehension of what my response maybe. As if the question may trigger me to freak out, pack up and leave, because I am not having smooth adjustment. The only time the question has varied was when I was asked if I was hiding out in Greenwood because I had murdered someone. I guess they assumed I had no other option, but to adjust to life in the Delta. While my move back to the Delta has been met with questions of apprehension and disbelief from friends, family and colleagues, I have yet to share in this sentiment, not even for a moment.

It has begun to concern me, though, after receiving this question a dozen or more times, that we Deltans fear what we cannot offer a newcomer versus reveling in what we can offer. Sure we do not have the big city amenities, but the Delta offers more than generic attractions found all over the country. It offers the unique opportunity to live, work and thrive in a place where history can be experienced everyday, where you truly know your neighbor, the only traffic jams are caused by farm equipment and where the night sky and surrounding landscapes offer more of a show than any Cineplex can. Not to even mention our laid back cultural love of fine food, live music, and a good time.

The fact of the matter is that we live in one of the most geographically and culturally unique places on earth; a place and way of life that is threatened by younger generations being lured to the big city. Sure we experience our history on a daily basis,but what about the future of the Delta? Will future generations be able to experience the same Delta that we love today, tomorrow? Instead of bewilderment at people returning to the Delta, shouldn’t there be a fear of it not being here for people to return to?

A few years ago, some landscape architecture colleagues and I were approached by a group of community leaders to initiate a preservation project for the community of Idlewild, Michigan. Idlewild, like the Delta, has a rich history but had fallen victim to some economic hardships over the past few decades. Like so many small towns in the Delta, the Idlewild community existed as shells of what used to be. There were historic markers of where the Four Tops had first played, but nothing else. We spent a week, in the freezing Michigan woods, working with the community to develop a landscape redevelopment plan that would help re-generate economic growth and stimulate more tourism to the area.

It was in the middle of this frozen tundra, thousands of miles from my home town where my own Delta roots took hold and I had a life changing “ah-ha” moment... if I could travel to the middle-of-nowhere Michigan to pursue a passion for landscape preservation, why not pursue this type of preservation work in my own home region where it was also needed?

The thought was fleeting at the time, but as time progressed and I began to decide on a career path in landscape architecture, I kept returning to that moment in those Michigan woods. Gradually, my questions of why would I return to the Delta became, why not return to the Delta?

As it turns out, much to my grandmother’s perplexity, landscape architecture is more than mowing lawns and choosing the right shrubs. It is the charge to design and plan for the health, safety and welfare of people within our landscapes. The beauty of landscape architecture lies in the opportunities of study within the field. Preservation work in the Delta just happened to be one such opportunity, an opportunity to work towards the welfare of a community and a region within a landscape setting, which has molded a culture and a way of life for centuries.

While it may seem like a strange fit to have a landscape architect as a Main Street Director, quite the opposite rings true. In my case, Main Street Greenwood is the vehicle for great strides in preservation within in the landscape of Downtown Greenwood and the overall landscape of the Delta. It is not everyday in which you can pursue daily design in regards to the past, in consideration of the present, and for visions of the future.

The mission of Main Street Greenwood is to “promote and celebrate Downtown Greenwood through the preservation of our historic resources and through projects, events, and activities that make downtown a viable place to live, work, and visit.” Through this mission, we not only work to make our historic downtown a viable place to live, work and visit right now, but we preserve its integrity for our future generations. This landscape of historical and cultural integrity will separate us from the generic attributes of life in other towns and allow Greenwood to be a beacon of preservation, culture and economic vitality for the entire Delta. 

My response to the “adjustment question” is always the same, “I have come back home, so there really was no adjustment necessary…and no, I did not murder anyone.” I can’t tell if it’s a look of shock, disbelief or relief when I give this simple response, but it should be no shock that there are those of us returning, moving or staying in the Delta. There should be urgency and excitement when greeting newcomers (or returners) because what we have to offer, as a community, is a way of life and a landscape to be celebrated, showcased and above all else, preserved.
(Seen in Leflore Illustrated, October 2012)