Sharon, this is a treasure of a story and so nicely written...are you sure you are not related to Eudora Welty? Although i believe Eudora was from Georgia, your story reminds me of some of her stories. The great American painter Georgia O'Keefe, who was very well traveled by the time she reached her elder years, was once asked what was the most exotic place in the world she had been to. Her reply was "the Southeastern United States".