Corinne walkin’ in the Mississippi Delta. Photo by Hillari Burns

By Corinne Vance
Young & Free

There is no doubt the Mississippi Delta is a lot different than somewhere like the Big Apple or the beaches of California. The Delta doesn’t have sunny days year round and ice-skating in these boonies is simply not an option. In Mississippi the weather changes from sticky, humid and hot to freezing cold and back again before you even have time to get your warm clothes out of the attic. Mother nature has it out for us Delta folks and she can be a pain in the ass. But Mississippians have embraced our bipolar climate and we wouldn’t change it for the world.

Mississippi’s wacky weather isn’t the only thing that sets it apart from the big cities. Along with the weather, we also tend to get the short end of the stick when it comes to a woman’s favorite hobby, shopping. It seems like anywhere else in the World shopping stores aren’t a problem to find, but if you step foot into the Mississippi Delta, aside from a Country Store or a Tractor Supply Co., there aren’t many options.

So, why are Mississippians so proud of where they come from? We might be slacking in a few categories, but Mississippi is overflowing with treasures no big city has ever dreamed of. In the Mississippi Delta a town isn’t simply a body of people who live in the same city limits, it’s a family. I don’t know of anywhere else where it’s safe to leave the door unlocked at night, when your dog goes missing the whole neighborhood joins in on the search, or when grieving the loss of a loved one your kitchen starts looking like a casserole and pie shop. In the small towns of the Mississippi Delta friendships are formed and last a lifetime.

The Mississippi Delta is nothing like anywhere else. From the muddy bayous and long sunsets to the back roads and blues music full of soul and everything in between, New York City has nothing on the Delta. This place I call home is a bit rough around the edges, yes. But I choose to look at it as a raw, uncut diamond, untouched and envied. There’s NO place like THIS place.

PHOTO OF CORINNE BY MISSISSIPPI DELTA PHOTOGRAPHER AND ARTIST HILLARI BURNS

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