In the first issue of Southlands, Kim Cross reflects on her upbringing on her family’s Alabama hunting preserve—a farm that became the final home of her Japanese American grandmother. Through vivid memories of childhood, family rituals, and Southern landscapes, Cross brings to life her family of doctors, tinkerers, and hunters, and growing up alongside her male cousins. The essay is an exploration of belonging, identity, and the legacy of a woman who taught her how to be comfortable as an anomaly in the South.
Mom told me that Grandma had always preferred the company of men. Her two brothers treated her like a princess. At nineteen, she won first prize in the Southwest Sun Carnival—a beauty pageant, I presume—and had ridden on a “Springtime in Kyoto” parade float wearing a kimono and a crown of flowers. Maybe there was a little bit of Japanese Scarlett O’Hara in her.
Maybe she liked being different.
More picks by Kim Cross
I Tracked a Wild Salmon From Sea to Plate — What I Learned Surprised Me
“An eye-opening adventure through Alaska’s wild salmon supply chain, from nets to knives to the dinner table.”
The Alchemists
“They led a cycling revolution in Afghanistan where women were forbidden to ride. When the Taliban returned to power, their only hope was a harrowing escape to an uncertain future.”
