Day Four: Tishomingo to Corinth, MS

Rain. Raining, rain, rain. So much for spending the day hiking and fishing in this beautiful state park in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.

Plan B. We went to Corinth to the Civil War Interpretive Center, where we learned that over 23,700 men gave their lives here in one of the bloodiest battles ever fought in our country. We saw part of the battlefield and the city cemetary where I sniffed a blossom (it's a Timm thing--if you know my brothers, you know what I mean), and picked a leaf the size of my hand that my kids ended up fighting over.

We ate at Borroum's Drug Store, which has been open since the mid 1800's. This place serves the best fresh strawberry malts from their soda fountain that I've ever tasted.

When we left the quaint drug store, I came face to face with the Ku Klux Klan. Well, they were across the street on the courthouse steps. The police had blocked off the street and bystanders listened to the man in the black robe babble about taxes and how we shouldn't help the people of Japan. I could not believe what I was experiencing and asked the girl standing next to me, "What are they doing? Is this for real?"

I stood there with my mom and kids for a moment, dumbfounded. Just yesterday at the Civil Rights Museum, I had told Emily about the KKK, showed her a picture of one of those "hateful, ignorant men" wearing his "cloak of cowardice" and here was a whole lot of them trying to look all intimidating and legitimate.

Anger flooded over me as I looked up and down the street wondering, "Who are these people that they would give their ears to this voice?!" My family and I would NOT stand there and be a part of it. "Let's go," I said leading my kids through the crowd to our car trying to explain that which doesn't make sense and and calming fears, "But Mom: We are for equal rights. Will they hurt us?" "No, Em, all they see is your white skin, not what you stand for."

We went fishing later this afternoon when the rain let up. Christian caught a couple catfish and the little boys reeled in their lines every 30 seconds "just to be sure" there wasn't a fish on the other end.

As we fished, I contemplated the day. We learned about heros and tragedy, ate good food, saw some interesting history and what I will remember is this: I am staying in a dry county, where it is wrong to drink a beer on the front porch, but okay to stand boldly on the steps of the courthouse and spew hatred. We've got some work to do!