The truth is of course complex.  Let’s start with the good.  The denizens of Cleveland, Mississippi seem to be genuinely happy.  It’s the sort of place where everyone knows everyone.  Neighbors are friendly and helpful.  Religion and politics are rarely discussed in public.  Cleveland (and the Delta more broadly) also have a rich history.  The local business community is thriving and jobs are more plentiful than elsewhere in the region.  So life is good and moves at a slower pace than in the rest of the world.  And living is cheap.  So low stress, no traffic, low cost of living, friendly people … what’s not to like?

A few things.  You have to love quiet living to enjoy the Delta.  There may be a thriving local culture, but there still isn’t much to do compared to many other communities.  The nearest city of any real size is two hours away.  So many people spend time with family and friends.  Without those your pretty much stuck.  There aren’t a lot of meetup groups so you have to hang with those who land next to you.  This can result in some interesting friendships.   The main sources of friends for a lot of residents seems to be either work or church.

Which brings me to my next point.  The Deep South is called the Bible Belt for a reason.   There isn’t quit a church on every street corner, but the ratio of people to churches is rather high I suspect.  Religion isn’t forced, but it’s also everywhere in ways great and small.  You can get by without going to church (I do), but you miss out on a lot of social activity.  Being an outsider in a small town can be tough.

And people seem to be rather averse to change.  You see this in a lot of little ways.  Traditional gender roles seem to predominate, for example.  Race is another example.  White and black communities still remain largely separate.  The former thrives, the latter not so much.  And not many people seem to care to change the state of affairs, which is part of the reason for Cleveland’s on-going struggle to integrate its schools.

These are all generalizations, of course.  Cleveland is full of wonderful people, many of whom defy the stereotypes others have about Mississippi.  The good isn’t just a facade for a darker reality.  That said, there is more to this town than meets the eye and not always in a good way.

In some ways I’ve lived in a bubble for the past 3 1/2 years.  Not only do I live exclusively in the white half of the town, I’m not overly close with a lot of people.  I tend not to see my friends very often outside of work which makes it difficult to see beyond the facade people usually put up in public.  Still I’ve led a good life in Cleveland.  On the whole the good out weighs the bad.  It is, in many ways, a unique place to live.

In some ways the town feels like a suburb. There are things to do, places to eat, and friendly neighbors. However Cleveland does not have big city problems such as traffic and crime. The people are friendly and most everyone knows everyone else. With all the town has one expects to find a major metropolitan area hidden somewhere in the cotton fields. Except of course there isn’t one. You have to drive over two hours in any direction to find anything approaching a big city. In between there is nothing, but farmland and poverty.

Living in Cleveland is like living in a bubble. All those friendly people don’t seem to care what the outside world thinks of them. They blissfully go to and from work, Kroger, and Walmart spending Friday nights at Delta Meat Market or maybe Hey Joe’s. It is all a self contained world centered on Delta State University. The school looms large here and is the sole reason Cleveland does not look like Clarksdale or Greenville or any of the other Delta towns. Fortunately the college is going nowhere. So there seems to be so little need to do anything differently.

Yet step outside the safe boundaries of the white community in Cleveland and reality quickly intrudes. A few days ago I attended the wake of a colleague’s relative. Driving up along South Chrisman, I saw block after block of run down houses, dilapidated corner stores, and rusted cars. The faces, of course, were all black. Then comes Court street and suddenly its all shops and familiar territory.

Make no mistake there is a wealth gap in Cleveland. The racial divide is somewhat blurred, but is there all the same. The white and black communities might as well be separate towns. They exist in different areas and don’t really mix. I have yet to see many examples of overt racism, but its legacy is on display for all to see. Sadly I don’t have statistics, but if I did they would not be encouraging.

In the grand scheme of things Cleveland is insignificant. It’s a small college town in the middle of nowhere. Few historical events of note have occurred here and it has no real claims to fame. For a while I bought into the idea that Cleveland, MS is the best place on earth. Then I traveled outside it. Returning home in particular helped put things in perspective.

Yet Cleveland is also unique. Somehow this small, insignificant town has managed to attract a diverse population. There are college professors from all over the country, international students from many countries, TFA corps members from all walks of life, and more. It’s as if there is some inverse hellmouth drawing people into the land of the lotus eaters. You see once here, many people don’t want to leave. Life is cheap, friends are close, and anything you can’t get at Walmart is available on Amazon. Only the reality of better employment elsewhere pulls people away.

It’s hard to say what the future holds. The Mississippi branch of the Grammy Museum opens in about a month. There is a lot of buzz about the number of tourists it will attract. Personally I am skeptical. Delta State, meanwhile, is going nowhere. Yet thirty miles away one can find its mirror image in Mississippi Valley State University. It too is a regional university. Being a Historically Black College and University there is little appetite to merge the two school although the idea has been floated in the past. So for now life in Cleveland continues on as it always has.

Ironically, medical care is somewhat more accessible to those who live here.   Both Cleveland, as well as Ruleville to the east, have several medical clinics which are open to all.   The Sunflower Clinic, for example, is open from 8am to Midnight 7 days a week.  I’ve taken advantage of it several times.  Back home, going to the doctor means making an appointment and taking time off of work because most physicians are only open regular business hours.   In New York, most doctor’s work in private practices and there is only so much work one person can do. We do have a few clinics of our own in Rockland County, but not as many considering the higher population.

Getting medical tests is somewhat more convenient as well.   The reason is the Cleveland Medical Mall (pictured below).

Located on the east side of town, the Medical Mall houses numerous doctors (including mine) covering various specialties.  There is an x-ray lab, a blood work lab, and a pharmacy.  Back home all of those facilities are separate often requiring multiple visits over several days. Cleveland’s isolated location means that everything is clustered around one small area.  So there are perks to living here.

But let’s be real.   The Cleveland Medical Mall is convenient because I have the money, and a good enough health insurance plan, to afford the doctors there.  Many folks aren’t so lucky.   The downside of clinics such as the Sunflower Clinic is the quality of care.  Having a primary care physician means I will see the same person for every visit.   Someone who has to rely on a clinic doesn’t have that luxury.  I can personally attest to that.  Depending on the ailment you might get an experienced Physicians Assistant or a nurse.  It was the same way in college.

But even having a personal physician is not a guarantee of high quality.  Sometimes my doctor is so busy he’ll leave you waiting for an hour in the exam room.  Personally I’ve had nothing but good experiences, being healthy overall.  Its hard to truly judge how good medical care is around here.  And I’m not sure I want to be in a position to do so.

It really pays to look below the surface when living around the Delta.   Life here is good for some.  Most aren’t so lucky.   The more I live in Cleveland the more I see the walls of the bubble surrounding my life.  Working at Delta State means having the privilege to have a private physician, in a nice facility, and the ability to take time off to see him.  If I am hospitalized, the bills will be manageable and that same doctor can continue to provide care.   Many folks probably don’t have that luxury.  The Affordable Care Act may have helped some, but last I checked few health insurance companies were offering there services around here.

So not everyone experiences life in the Delta equally.  For those of us living in the Delta State community its easy to forget that we are the lucky few with the money and the good jobs.  There is a lot more to this area than that.  I hate having to be so vague, but living in the aforementioned bubble means there are somethings I don’t see much of.  Perhaps in the future other opportunities will present themselves to understand life on the other side of the tracks.

The occasion was the return of my Honda Civic to the dealership.  It was a lease so I couldn’t simply sell it. Well the guy who drove me back and I talked on the way home.  He said a few things which stand out.  One was that farmers are the biggest gamblers around.  Now a lot of jokes can be made about that remark given the presence of casinos around the Delta.  But there is a serious point to be made.  Evidently a farmer more or less makes a guess as to what crop will be the best to grow in any given year and goes with that.  But if the weather doesn’t cooperate or prices drop than you’re in trouble.  And apparently farming is not cheap. A quick Google search for “combines for sale” turned up listings for used equipment going for north of $200,000 and new stuff pushing $400,000.   My driver said the one pictured below might have cost nearly a million which is not hard to imagine.  There is also the cost of fuel, taxes, utility bills, and probably a mortgage.  No wonder food costs have been going up.

But there is a certain amount of freedom which comes from living out in the country.  Case in point: trash disposal.  Now there is such a thing as garbage pick up in rural areas.  But what about that pile of old tires in the backyard?  Simple.  Burn them.  Out in the country there are no restrictions on burning trash.  So people who live there can pile up their stuff, douse it in lighter fluid, and torch it.   The pictures below looked like one such fire.  I’ve previously only seen these from a distance.

Of course there are downsides to living outside the city limits.  Shopping has got to be a pain.  Utility service is probably tricky as well.   The Internet comes to mind as does cellphone coverage.   One can only have broadband internet if the infrastructure has been laid down.  Out in the country, that is less likely to be the case leaving people stuck with dial up, satellite or Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs).  Hence this here map from Techbeat (brighter colors equal faster internet).  Even in town the internet can be spotty at times.

All of the above makes me appreciate living in town.  Yes it’s far from the airport.  Yes there isn’t much to do around here.   But there are places with even less to do and even less access to stores and shops.  In a way Cleveland really is in the middle of nowhere in the sense that it is the center of an otherwise rural and desolate area.  So life could be much worse.

My driver said this combine is used for harvesting Soy Beans