Webbed Feet

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Setting up camp

After landing in the New World, the first things many explorers did was establish a settlement. Often, these brave and courageous men encountered a myriad of problems in finding an adequate place to live in this strange and unfamiliar place. Unfriendly natives, a hostile climate, problems finding food sources, and terrible mosquitos. While many moons have passed since those first explorers set foot in the New World, the same challenges still exist in setting up a place to live in the Delta.

While trying to establish at least a semi-permanant settlement near my school, I focused my efforts on the county seat of Tallahatchie County, Charleston. I assumed that Charleston, being the county seat, would be a town of sufficient size to provide my basic needs. I don't require much, but food and housing were all I was really looking for. The "apartment complexes" in Charleston did not really qualify as housing, as I would rather live in a tent than in any of those places. They should probably be condemned. I enlisted the help of the one real estate agent in town, (who was rather friendly, Pocahontas to my John Smith, or something like that) but our search was futile. She wanted to sell me a house, but I was really not all that interested in buying. Searching for food yielded similar results. The local grocery store, while amply stocked, had ridiculous prices on their products. They did have a McDonald's, but that would not suffice. Frustrated and fearful of not finding a suitable place to live, I left Charleston and headed north for better options elsewhere...