Opinion

Why I want to replant my Southern roots in the desert

Mississippi resident plans to celebrate birthday, finish novel in Phoenix

Ray Hightower

Submitted photo/Ray Hightower

OPINION — People in Mississippi can’t understand why I want to pull up roots and move 1,600 miles away to a desert. But I do. My roots here are shallow.

The South reminds me of loneliness and loss, of decisions made for me, of a life I’ve been watching, not living.

Phoenix changed that. It woke me up; asked me to notice light, rhythm, stillness. To slow down and experience something real. To participate.

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