Origin Story

I’m originally from Maryland but lived most of my life on the Florida-Georgia line. It seems like yesterday, but in 2017 I had been living in New England for work and for family. Both responsibilities were coming to an end.

Because of health concerns, I retired early and chose to move to warm places. I chose 5 cities to live in for a year. I had been living in New England and, after 10 years of dealing with an MS diagnosis, the winters were getting the best of me.

Without going into great detail about the complexities of Multiple Sclerosis and what the hypothalamus and thermo-regulation are, the stiffness and the ability to warm up at a normal pace weren’t happening in New England. I left New Hampshire and started a slow trek southward to allow my body to adjust to the changes in climate and to explore areas that I felt I might return too, as a final settling point in my five year plan.

I’ve always been interested in three topics, History, Metaphysical philosophy , and the paranormal. I typically find myself in lengthy conversation when these topics arise. I put these pages together as a way to offer tours to others when they’re planning a trip and need a guide.

The cities I picked were Baltimore, Charlotte, Atlanta, Memphis and Tampa. As you’ll see from my site, the plan didn’t go quite as expected. Even a type-A personality like mine doesn’t always get the plan right.

I’ll go into more details about why I chose the cities I did, in the links to that city, but I can easily say that it started as a quest to find a place that the weather treated me right and offered ways to decompress.

When you visit my links you’ll see that I’m a storyteller. I’ve included a few of the topics that I like to talk about and a few pictures. These are the things I explored while visiting. I plan on hi-lighting my favorite places to grab a meal, the local cemeteries, historical locations and places to relax.

The final cities I hunkered down in were Baltimore, Charlotte, Atlanta, Savannah and Jacksonville. Even though it wasn’t exactly Plan-A it still worked out to be somewhat what I intended, but hey… who saw a global pandemic coming, and what perfect plan doesn’t have unforeseen surprises.

I’ve also delved into other cities along the way. I’m not including links to those, but they are definitely worth visiting.

….and if anyone is curious…

I am definitely aware of the nursery rhyme and the similarities with theme and title of my sight. I also know about the tree at the women’s prison. I know about the dance, and I know about the Victorian era Women’s Suffrage and the sex wars that brought about phrases like ‘battle of the sexes’.

But that’s not exactly why I kept the name, I did know the origin but I learned something interesting in my travels, and thought it appropriate to incorporate into my little art project. So here’s why.

During my travels, I learned that the early Georgia colony was built by British citizens that were working class men and women with not a lot of financial wealth to brag about. They were offered the chance to start a colony instead of spending time in prison for being in debt.

I learned that a good portion of the original colonists were peace loving hippie types and were either Church of England or Lutherans. Pretty simple Protestant folk; intent on harvesting Mulberry Trees to start the English silk industry, and since silk harvesting created less labor demands it seemed like a bright future for everyone. The poor and lower-classes were seeing a light that would change the farm industry all the way from Maryland to Georgia. The Southern colonies were gonna be grand.

Ok, so….

A tree by itself is just a tree. But a lot of them are a forest…or as many a hunter would attest…”the bush”. A farmland covered in mulberry plants would be quite the Mulberry Bush.

I found out that unfortunately the climate and know-how to produce mulberry trees didn’t work out, and the option to produce cotton became a major source of industry to England instead. At the time Silk was projected to outpace tobacco and offered a better financial gain to the crown. Cotton matched tobacco but would never be able to replace it in the colonies.

When I realized that the entire south. Everything from the Pennsylvania border to the Florida border had the potential to be a silk empire instead of Cotton and Tobacco. If the technology and farming culture of today’s world had been available, the new world would certainly have had a different history.

Like a silk empire each tiny silk worm has its own story. This project are a few that I’ve picked.

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