2 Years in the South

Well here we are closing in on 2 years since we moved into our new home in the 10-OC. We've moved in, and out, and in, and out and repeat once more. We're getting to be experts in moving.

Even if our house did catch fire and then did get hit by a tornado and it does still have water running underneath it, we have had a nice time living here. The kids' schools are nice and the students even nicer. We're learning to navigate the roads TN style and things that may have bothered me in CA just don't seem to be that big of a deal anymore, you learn fast that Tennessee just happens.

Like the other day after I took oldest son to football practice.

Our local bridges have recently been inspected and the 2 bridges we use to get to town are on the "unsafe" list. Both are being redone at the same time. The smaller basically one lane bridge is being replaced all together, the larger bridge has been narrowed to one lane while the other side gets retrofitted. To regulate traffic flow on this now one lane bridge there is a stop light at each end on the bridge. I've come to expect delays here....up to THREE minutes. The injustice. Anyhow coming home from football practice I see that my signal is going to turn red so the car in front of me stops and so do I. Interesting though, it looks like the traffic on the bridge is not moving anymore. I take a more intense look. Well, wouldn't you know it, a truck with an over sized piece of farm equipment seems to have gotten wedged in between the concrete barriers on the bridge. Well in CA peeps would be getting pretty upset, but not here in TN. Nah, the stuck truck just gives one the opportunity to spit some chew out your open window non-moving vehicle, wave to the fella in front and behind, check your truck's oil levels and maybe kick the tires once or twice. No problems here. But I'm from California, so I do a quick U-turn (it's county roads out there, you can legally perform U-turns there, but you cannot in the city of Franklin) and take the one lane country bi pass road passed Wyonna Judd's old place and connect back to the section of road I need to be on.

Or there was that time I went to Puckett's to pick up some hamburger buns for dinner. It was late afternoon and I knew I was taking my chances but fortunately they weren't out of hamburger buns when I got there so I grabbed a pack as fast as I could, but I bet they were out when I left. See, Uncle Lester was there and he being my neighbor and all, just HAD to update me on all the local things going on, that went on, that will be going on, that may be going on, what would have been going on and on and on for at least an hour maybe even two. Husband was going to send a search party, but I did make it back home before dessert was served.

Then there was the time when we didn't have our Internet hooked up yet and so I stopped by the library to use their computers. I had about 200 email to read. I read a total of 12. But I was there for 3 hours and 26 minutes and had the run down of the history of the area told to me by some locals born and raised here. They told me that before the Natchez Trace was built our little road didn't go all the way through. To get up to where our house is one had to cross a creek 3 times and then you were at a dead end. And there was always no good going on at the dead end. I can see now where our troubles started.