"I'm going down South, child..." This is the Mississippi Delta as seen from Outer Space. I'm way out here in Toronto planning a long awaited trip to cradle of the Blues. This is a different kind of trip because it is actually more of pilgrimage than a vacation-on-road. Pilgrims travel to places in search of feelings and that is part of the reason I am traveling to the Delta. After years of listening to songs that talk about places like Rosedale, Friar's Point, Clarksdale and Rolling Fork I have developed a strong desire to experience those places. Yes, these places are totally different than they were in the twenty's and Thirty's. Even when Alan Lomax visited these places in 1941, (as documented in his book, "The Land Where Blues Began"), he noticed changes from his earlier trip in 1931. Current travel books such as "Blues traveling - The Holy Sites of the Delta Blues" Seem to indicate that many of the Delta Blues landmarks lie in ruin or are deteriorating. Thankfully, a successful movement has started to preserve these precious landmarks as historical sites (please go to http://www.msbluestrail.org for more info). Change is good, change is bad, change is always inevitable. The Blues teach this and many other truths too! Anyway, it's back to the travel books I go to continue the plan...the Delta's getting closer everyday.