Learning is a wonderful thing. I’ve learned quite a lot this week.

Yesterday, I learned that Gale Sayers is still alive. I thought he died 50 years ago.

What did I learn today?

I learned that the Mississippi Delta is not the same as the Mississippi River Delta. The Mississippi River Delta is the mouth of the river at the Gulf of Mexico, below New Orleans. It’s predominantly Creole and Cajun, and fishing is big business there. So is oil and gas exploration and refining. The Mississippi Delta is a 7000 sq. mi. area of rich bottom land, between the Mississippi River on the west to the Yazoo River on the east, south of Memphis TN and north of Vicksburg MS. It is considered the most fertile soil in the United States, and was big cotton plantation country. It’s the home of “Delta Blues” and is still predominantly African American. It’s sometimes called “the most southern place in America” based on its culture. So if you want to be a real bluesman and sell your soul at the crossroads, don’t go down by the Gulf of Mexico because you’re 300 miles away from where you want to be. In April 1863 General U.S. Grant crossed the Mississippi at Bruinsburg with 17,000 men and supplies (the largest amphibious military operation is U.S. history until the Normandy landings in June 1944) and then fought across the Mississippi Delta to Jackson MS and then to Vicksburg, which fell on July 4 1863, the day after the Union Victory at Gettysburg (where Meade beat Bobby Lee (not the Asian Bobby Lee)). I already knew most of that last part.

The other thing I learned today is that there’s an almost invisible little switch on the top of my stove that turns on a light inside the oven. I never noticed it before; like a fool I’ve been using a flaming newspaper torch to see if my delicate cakes had risen. No more! I’ve found the switch!