Cicadas : Southern ambiance or Southern nuisance?

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While I was living in California (six years to be exact) one of the things I missed the most about the South was my front porch and the front porch conversations. So when I spotted my current blush pink shotgun house with a wraparound porch in New Orleans, it was a homecoming of sorts.

What I did not miss, however, were the bugs.

Even so, I've been enthralled with all the news coverage of cicadas. This story from the Smokies says the cicada-pocalypse is nigh and another warns wedding planners to beware. Well, to take it further, our reporter Andrew Yawn spoke to a Tennessee bride-to-be about her concerns for what entomologists are calling a pretty bad awakening of cicadas. You can scroll to the bottom to read this short newsletter exclusive story!

We also have an important piece in our Shaping the South series. It's a courageous conversation about maternal mortality in Georgia and what one nonprofit is doing to improve health outcomes for new moms. 

Also, I know we're not quite out of the woods yet (pandemic-wise in the U.S.). But I'm hopeful, as I see more pictures fill my timeline of families reunited and small groups of friends gathering. It feels too crass to say cheers, and I won't. I'll leave you instead with this story about a bar owner who views his business as a space for community.

Isn't that what we all want a little more of these days?  A true sense of community, courageous conversations, and in my case, fewer bugs. 

Thank you for reading. 

Take good care!

Ashley Hopkinson (Editor, The American South) 

P.S. This toddler learning to walk again will make you smile!

What's the South talking about?

• Alabama Senate approves repeal of K-12 yoga ban
• Colonial Pipeline: gas shortage in Southeast
• What do Tennessee schools teach about race?
• Chick-fil-A sauce shortage 

As maternal mortality crisis deepens, Georgia nonprofit focuses on improving outcomes

As of 2018, Georgia’s maternal death rate was at 27.7 deaths per 100,000 live births, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition of Georgia wants to help tackle a historic problem that has affected the health of women and babies for decades.

Ky Lindberg, the newly appointed executive director of the organization, talks about her new role and ongoing efforts to address healthcare access for new moms.

Read the full conversation with Ky Lindberg here

Bartender mixes real cocktail recipes with fake history and serious lessons in new book

Excerpt from story

The American South : “Cocktail Dive Bar” is lighthearted. It's got illustrations. It's witty. It's full of fake history of classic cocktails. But I can't think of another cocktail book that also talks about alcohol abuse, sexual harassment and gentrification. Why did you want to include that?

T. Cole Newton: For every organization in the world now, there are no sidelines anymore. You have to be an agent for the change that you want to see in the world. As much as anything else, the book is a Trojan horse. I wanted to create something that was fun, easy, approachable, quirky, unique and visually appealing and had these fun drinks and interesting stories. But that was a way to have these serious conversations. 

Read the full conversation with T. Cole Newton here 

The Cicadas are coming...

Exclusive to newsletter

By Andrew Yawn, The American South 

Amanda Cotton and her fiancé Zach Smith have spent nearly a year planning their perfect summer wedding, from the pink and sage trimmings to the roses and peonies. 

But there’s one thing Cotton hadn’t planned for that she fears could ruin their big day. 

“It’s stressful, because I just want it to be perfect and then it’s like, ‘Oh yay, there's going to be cicadas,’” Cotton said. 

This summer, swarms of noisy, buzzing cicadas will emerge from the ground in 15 states. That includes eastern Tennessee, where Cotton and Smith will tie the knot at an outdoor wedding in Pigeon Forge in the Smoky Mountains. 

The insects are harmless to humans. This particular brood, identified as Brood X, is emerging after 17 years underground. It will only live for four to six weeks as they reproduce and begin another cycle. But Cotton’s June 12 wedding date is right in the middle of the phenomenon, forcing Cotton to begin preparing for the previously unexpected (and very loud) guests. 

“The whole planning of this wedding has been so shaky, and the cicadas just threw another wrench in the program,” Cotton said. 

This spring, as she was trying to locate a florist and plan parking at their forested cabin, Cotton also began reading research papers on Brood X and looking for ways to mitigate their droning screech.

She posted in a bridal Facebook group looking for solutions or assurance. The wedding DJ said he’d bring microphones to ensure guests could hear the ceremony over the potential din of the cicadas. Other solutions ranged from setting up a large, enclosed tent to turning on a lawnmower on the far side of the property to try to attract them with a similar noise. 

Besides the noise, Cotton is worried about the winged insects flying into food and bothering guests.

“I remember cicadas the last time they were here, and they covered everything, their shells were everywhere. So am I going to be able to use the yard or are people just going to be crunching on bugs all the time?” Cotton said. “I researched all kinds of solutions like maybe citronella candles, but what I found is there's nothing you can do.”

Cicadas can represent a sort of rebirth or transformation. So far, the only silver lining Cotton has found is hoping the cicadas are only prevalent enough to add a Southern ambiance to the outdoors affair. (Unfortunately, Brood X is estimated to have a population in the trillions, and 1.5 million can be found in a single acre). 

Despite the stress of wedding planning amid a pandemic and now a once-in-17-year swarm, Cotton said, she is still looking forward to cutting the cake with her “soulmate.”

“I’m just living on a wing and a prayer,” Cotton said. “We’re going to Jamaica for our honeymoon, so at least we got that. 

“There's none of these cicadas in Jamaica.”