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As some of you may know I have retired and moved to Tennessee from Florida. It's definitely been a lifestyle change, mostly for the better, and I thought I'd share my impressions of Tennessee, the lifestyle here, and the day to day goings on that make my life what it currently is.
First thing is being retired is interesting. You lose track of days. Tuesday is pretty much the same as Saturday. Actually I would be more accurate to say that Tuesday is pretty much like Friday because, at least in Hilham Tennessee most everything is closed on Sunday and Wednesdays. I kid you not. If you want to make sure you have something make sure you don't need to get it on Wednesday because where ever you have to get it from may not be open.
Also Hilham, the town I live in is small. Really small. I mean, the guy in the post office closes everyday from 11:30 to 12:30 for lunch. I tried to stop in today to purchase some stamps and the post office was closed. And it's not Wednesday.
Another major difference between Florida and Tennessee is the rocks. Well, Florida didn't have any rocks so I suppose that's a major difference. Since I moved here I've been putting in quite a bit of fencing to keep my dogs in the yard and to keep varmints out. I've also had to have electric poles put in, water lines dug, you get the idea. Everywhere they have to dig they uncovered rocks. I mean a state that prides itself on its tree covered mountains having rocks! Who knew? I'm also not talking about "I'll pick this rock up and move it so the lawnmower blade doesn't get bent" kinda rocks but more along the lines of "Let's get the diesel tractor down here, wrap a chain around this sucker and see if we can drag it out of the way" kind of rocks. Lots of them!
The language is also different. Well, yes, there is the southern drawl thing going on that is hard for a northern born boy to understand but there are also the words themselves. Y'all is a good example. This is an excellent word because it includes anyone in hearing range. For example, "Howdy y'all!" is a perfect greeting. It's short, polite and covers anyone within hearing range. It just doesn't get any more efficient than that.
Then there's the word varmint. Now, being a northern boy I always assumed varmint was an undesirable animal. Nope. Varmint is a word used by people in Tennessee for something alive they want to shoot. That can be pretty much anything. Varmint is much like y'all in that it can pertain to animals you don't like such as rats, skunks, possums and the like. It can also be used when referencing deer, coy dogs, snakes, the neighbor's dogs (they always have several) and even the neighbors themselves. So if you're ever asked by a native Tennessean if you'd like to go shoot some varmints you'd be well advised to ask just what varmints this person had in mind.
Well, that's enough for today. Tomorrow I'll talk about the South rising again.
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