Nothing to do with the election. Believe me. A great friend of mine from New Jersey has a son who’s just matriculated at a university in Virginia. A wonderful kid, the answer to every parent’s prayers — smart, athletic, kind, determined. I was worried when he chose a university in Virginia. He’s running into what I call the Southern Wall. I sent this to dad in hopes of explaining how to bridge the gap.

At 6:22 in, he quotes Faulkner on the subject of the souls of southern boys. It’s not racist. It’s just southern.

By accident, though, I discovered in the course of my searching this possible solution to an apparently unsolvable American mystery mentioned by Shelby Foote and affirmed by him as something lost to history. Maybe not.

Shelby Foote described the Rebel yell as a corkscrew up the spine, a kind of infernal fear. I’m getting that. You? More of Shelby Foote…

Thought I should share it. I can only hope I don’t become a ritual sacrifice at Salon on account of it.

My favorite place on earth:

Westover plantation on the James River in Virginia. No admission fee, nobody else there. Just chairs for you and yours to sit and watch the river, watch life, go by.

But for you unreconstructed Brit racists who don’t believe in heaven, I can also offer you this:

Enjoy.