Possibly Americans (to be precise, citizens of the United States of America) don't suffer from a loss of the sense of direction in visiting the southern states. I am not talking about geographical direction so much as historical and aesthetic direction. I find confederate flags confusing, southern hospitality endearing but inexplicable (why southern as opposed to mid-western, or Cascadian or whatever). It is nicely summarized for me in Winston Churchill's essay "If Lee Had Not Won the Battle of Gettysburg".

Looking at the photographs I took over the weekend in Savannah, Georgia, I find this one speaks most clearly to me. Tales of Savannah's preoccupation with its ghosts and graveyards, shades of Aubrey Beardsley, or perhaps Peake and Gormenghast. The tree has a curious, ghoulish elegance to it, rather like Savannah itself.