Verbal virtuosity Southern Illinois style

Here are some souvenirs from our roadtrip down to the Americana of Southern Illinois, an anthropologist would really not need to go far here to find a fascinating field for studying religion and language. And if you settled in the local Cairo, Vienna, Atlanta or Nashville you could even fool your fellow anthropologists into thinking that you had left the Midwest.



Other immemorable phrases from protestant church boards included:
Paxton: "If God is your co-pilot, switch seats."
Rantoul: "Is what you live for worth dying for?"
Centralia: "Heaven - No pain, all gain."
Richview: "Faith will lead you on."
Nashville (yes, in IL): "Love will endure if it is kept pure."
And: "Be hopeful with a real basis for hope."
Pinckneyville: "Thank God for the "son" shine."
And: "Every Saint has a Past. Every Sinner has a Future."
And: "Get an After-Life"
Murphysboro: "Love is a verb before it is a noun."
Alto Pass: "God's love is so goooood!"
And: "God bless you and those whom you love."
Springfield: "Life is fragile, handle with prayer."

And here's a view from Cairo, Illinois, a town situated at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississipi rivers that has seen its better days. According to my Illinois guide book its founders thought the river valley resembled Egypt. Maybe, but now with more than two thirds of the town's buildings falling apart it felt more like a Wild West ghost town to me.