Lilac of the South

One of the joys of living in middle Georgia is that no matter what season you're in something is always in bloom - even in winter when pansies and snap dragons provide much welcome color. In the summer, crape myrtles are bursting with white, raspberry, periwinkle, and pink blossoms. For those of you outside the deep south a crape myrtle is a multi-stemmed, large shrub that can grow as a tall as a tree. Indeed, the one in the front yard at Andalusia is about 25 ft. tall and is topped with frothy pink blossoms. Although no one knows whether our crape myrtle was around when Flannery lived at Andalusia, it is as refreshing to the eye on a hot summer day as a bowl of sherbet. Why not plan a trip to Andalusia this summer to see it? While you're here, check out some of the new (and not so new) titles that just arrived in the gift shop - Jean Cash's pioneering biography, Flannery O'Connor: A Life; Margaret Earley Whitt's study, Understanding Flannery O'Connor; Conversations with Flannery O'Connor, edited by Rosemary Magee; Hank Edmondson's Return to Good & Evil; and the travel book every bibliophile should have, Novel Destinations.
- Mark