Sacred
Ground
Walking
in O'Connor's Footsteps at Andalusia
©
8 August 2008, Brian Collier
If you've read through a collection of O'Connor's short
stories, or rewarded yourself with a trip through Wise Blood then
you're familiar with the landscape she populates with escaped
murderers, itinerant preachers, and rebellious teens. O'Connor was
so talented that she could put a reader smack in the middle of a
desolate red-clay-and-gravel back road, or a claustrophobic room in
a dilapidated farmhouse with an economy of words that Hemingway
would envy.
To really grasp O'Connor's talent for capturing reality and
pinning it to the pages of her fiction, you have to visit Andalusia,
the farm where she spent the last thirteen years of her life and wrote
the majority of her work. About three miles north of Milledgeville on
Georgia highway 441, Andalusia politely bides the days like an aging
southern belle, despite the tide of progress steadily washing away the
history around Georgia's former capital. A dirt and gravel drive
flanked by barbed wire still
serves as the single entryway to Andalusia. Gnarled oaks and Georgia
pines shelter the farm from the commercial frontage sprouting along
441, although disembodied voices sometimes call out from the Ford
dealership up the highway.
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The O'Connor farmhouse at Andalusia:
Photo courtesy of the Andalusia Foundation
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The white farmhouse perches atop a rise in the land, still watching
the blue-gray line of trees across the pasture and patiently awaiting
visitors from the outside world. A row of white rocking
chairs invites visitors to sit in the shade of the front porch and
listen to the cicadas buzzing in the summer heat. About the only thing
O'Connor readers will miss are the animals. Aside from wild
whitetail deer and an old hinny, the farm no longer supports
livestock. O'Connor's peacocks, the animals most closely connected
to her, were given to the Monastery
of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, and the Our
Lady of Perpetual Help Home in Atlanta.
In a small back room of the farmhouse, Craig Amason directs the Andalusia
Foundation and spearheads the drive to save O'Connor's
Milledgeville heritage and keep Andalusia from succumbing to old age.
He has managed to gather enough support to make the farmhouse safe for
visitors--opening the past to O'Connor's readers--but time hasn't
been kind to the buckling plaster walls or most of the outbuildings;
the plantation house where the Hills used to live is now home to a
thriving family of squirrels. Amason believes the foundation will need
around 1.5 million dollars to properly renovate the house and 8 million to rejuvenate
the whole farm, which seem to be very conservative figures. The foundation's plans
include nature trails through the farm to give local students a place
to retreat from the encroaching sprawl. (Surely there's a literary
philanthropist out there who sees the value in preserving this
landmark of southern literature.)
The natural isolation that saves Andalusia from becoming another
motel or parking lot also limits accessibility for visitors. Milledgeville doesn't have its own
commercial airport, and the two hour drive from Atlanta's Hartsfield
discourages the casual tourist. However, if you've read this far, I'll bet you're not a casual
tourist. You possess that deep passion for O'Connor that won't let
a few miles discourage you from setting foot on the sacred ground
where a stray scrub bull might still lurk in the sentinel line of
trees, where you can squint into the gloom of the hayloft and listen
for Hulga whispering with Manley, and you can almost puzzle the answer
to sacred mystery from the maze of cracks in the plaster walls of O'Connor's
bedroom.
Planning a trip to Georgia is fairly easy, with convenient access
to a major airport and ample transportation options, and aside from
your journey to Andalusia you can find plenty of attractions in
Atlanta to fill several days. As an alternative to the usual tourist
route, the Toronto group Classical
Pursuits offers a four night April sojourn to Georgia that
includes a visit to O'Connor's childhood home in Savannah, a day
trip to Andalusia, guided walks through Savannah, accommodations at
the Marshall House, readings, and daily discussions with O'Connor
scholars. If you've an independent streak, visiting these places on
your own is simple, but Classical
Pursuits offers a group experience that allows you to share your
love for O'Connor with other literary minded travelers.
There is no substitute for setting your own eyes on the same
countryside O'Connor used for her stories, but if you simply can't
travel to Milledgeville, you can still get a taste of O'Connor
country online. Nancy Marshall's photo essay on Southern
Spaces leads visitors on an evocative photographic tour of
Andalusia in black and white. In addition to preserving O'Connor's
home, the Andalusia
Foundation hosts a website with information on the entire history
of the farm and a information on how you can help keep O'Connor's
Andalusia alive. |