this is where im from

THIS IS WHERE IM FROM

wikipedia,org
this map from the linked wikipedia article on the southern accent shows where it can be found
there is a little dot though out in california where i live
thats dot is me

twice in the last two weeks ive been asked that question that southerners get sometimes when they travel or move
where you from

when doing an elementary tour through the garden a mom asked me
where you from

her mother in law lives near the country n where we use to live so we talked about the area 
her mother in law was thinking of moving here
wonder if she has an accent she cant loose

the other time i was doing the walk to end alzheimers in santa barbara and was at the back of the walk as usual when i found myself walking besides this lady
she looked at me and said
i enjoyed your talk before the walk
but
here it came
where you from

my accent which i dont notice unless i hear a recording of my voice is a an influence of where i have lived
i grew up in southern arkansas where the closer you get to the louisiana border the deeper the drawl
i moved in my my early 20s to southern california where i lived for 7 years
from there i moved back to central arkansas to attend medical school 
then i moved to central texas where i lived for 30 years
then 6 years ago i moved back to Sothern california

all those locations have had an influence on my accent
i know when i moved back to arkansas folks said
where you from
like they do now here in southern california

so i read with interest this article on the changing accent in georgia especially around atlanta where folks have moved in from everywhere and also now with social media and the internet and tv the accents like the areas genetics is getting all mixed up 
so
the southern accent is fading in that area
i presume it is is fading in the austin area some now since its growing like atlanta has
also the generation x kids are losing their accents

however 
if you drive out from austin about 30 miles and go to some feed stores or country stores or local bars there is not a loss of the southern accent

as i was practicing my talk for the alzheimers walk i listened to my accent
yes
its there
its not going away
i hope it doesnt change 

such that folks will say 
you know that guy that talked at the walk or that volunteers at the garden who talks with that southern drawl

if thats how i get identified 
im ok with that

im still gonna say yall come back now ya hear

the organicgreen doctor