Quiet, rural beauty Part of the trick to appreciating southwest Mississippi is to be observant. Although the area is rich in scenic beauty, it's not a dramatic beauty like glaciers, snow-capped mountains or tumbling waterfalls. Instead, it's a landscape characterized by gently rolling hills, green pastures, gleaming ponds and dark pine forests. Livestock brings the countryside to life as animals go about their business of living. Although many non-resident urbanites have caught on to the exceptional hunting the area offers, so far this area has not become a tourist hotspot, though its pastoral beauty and historical heritage would recommend it. Considering what tourism has done to areas from Key West, Florida, to Mendocino, California, that might not be so bad. Rather, the area is probably most savored by its residents, especially those who appreciate detail. Detail, for instance, such as: The hazy quality of air on an August afternoon over the shimmering pastures. The smell of new-mown hay as clippers and balers work their way across a broad field. The dense smell of pine trees or the subtle scent of a cold running stream. The sound of a lone mockingbird trilling in an oak tree. Children temporarily abandoning their high-tech toys for the simplest of pleasures, such as swinging from a vine or skipping pebbles in a pond. The thrash of a bass and hushed voices of fishermen as they try to land it. An elderly woman, face shaded by straw hat, at work in her immaculate garden. A man in overalls working his pepper patch with a mule-drawn side harrow. An old wagon wheel, its faded red paint flaking off, leaning against the weathered boards of an abandoned barn. The hum of crickets and drone of bees over blackberry patches and dense thickets. Southwest Mississippi doesn't have canyons, gorges, or mountain ranges. It doesn't need them. Article by Ernest Herndon, originally published in Enterprise-Journal, August 20, 1989