With all of Selma’s must-sees marked off my list, I wandered her roads in search of more. A few aimless turns & circle-backs later, I stumbled upon one of my maybes: the Old Live Oak Cemetery, where I’d find one of nature’s loveliest things & man’s ugliest, just within a few steps of each other.

Spanish moss draping magnolias like voile curtains lined each side of the main road, and I made a note to revisit this beauty after exploring the rest. I steered down Live Oak’s only other driveable path, where the sweet taste of rich history & timeless scenery I’d drunk in around Selma turned bitter. This path led to Confederate Circle, purchased & preserved by supporters of the first Grand Wizard of the KKK.

Resisting my burning urge to drive donuts through it, I hurried out, pausing for 3 cars of what I assumed were more tourists, to clear the narrow drive. Back to the main road where I’d hoped mossy magnolias would help me shake it off.

I’d barely noticed driving in, but after seeing the larger memorial, the tiny Confederate flags dotting plots throughout the cemetery couldn’t be ignored. Nor could my realization that the cars I’d passed weren’t tourists, but fanboys paying their respects. My discomfort was turning palpable, and while I’m usually pleasantly surprised by the “maybes,” I was starting to regret happening upon this place.

I trudged back to the car to determine my next direction when another pulled up right next to me. “Guarded” is a COLOSSAL understatement. An older gentleman motioned for me to roll down my window and, despite the daggers I knew my eyes were throwing, greeted me boisterously in a thick Black southern brogue Discovery Channel surely would have subtitled.

“You from Selma?”

“No sir, Texas.”

“Ohhhhh, so you just passin’ through then? I drove through a minute ago and saw that afro, so I said, ‘Ah, she must be one of our people.'”

The smile that broke across my face only widened as he went on.

“Well, we take care of each other heah, so welcome to Selma. You need anythang at all, you jus’ ask US.”

He was already pulling away when I realized that he & the ancestors had just given me everything.

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where i wandered: