Lol the possum is so much a part of here and then I find this...

I found a web page.  I hadn't read it, didn't know it existed before I wrote the blog post about the possum.  That whole thing is so much  southern that I talk southern to describe it.  It's like hearing someone who's gone off to school to learn "culture" coming back home for Thanksgiving. 

You spend the school term learning how to act but then you come home. 

All these people are there and they've known you since you were small. 

They don't care that you're on the Dean's List or that you aced that exam.

Oh no.

They know you from the time you sat in that ant bed when you were four and your Aunt Ethel had to swat them off you.  They can remember your first words and worse yet your first date.  :(

They don't put you at ease. They don't "coat" you with southern hospitality either.  Instead? They put you in your place. It's their job. 

They teach you manners and culture. 

They have to "torment" you so that you'll know better.  Like the story about the guy who went out each morning to swat that seedling with a rolled up newspaper. 

Makes it strong. Gives it roots.  That way it won't blow over or break in a strong wind.

Thanks to them you know when to say "Yes, mamm."   You know when it's okay to say, "Thank you Mizz Katheryn," and when to say "Thank you Mizz Smith."  You know how to sit in church. How to eat in polite company.  I read that it was the reason why companies loved to hire southern students for jobs.  "They just know how to be polite and charming."

Hmmf.

It's a cultural thing or a generational thing but it's definitely a southern thing.

I read the post and then their  About section. I thought that this isn't possible.

But I'm guessing that it is.


So I wrote them a letter.

According to the blog comments it's awaiting moderation.

That's good because the posts are current and maybe someone will finally write back.

And they'll speak southern.

:)

The letter in question

Dear Sir or is it Madam,

I have to introduce myself and tell you the very first thing that I didn't read this post until after I wrote about the possum.  I am sitting here in the dark writing and fuming at the indignity of that possum and it's threat to my chickens.  I'm also listening to Travis Tritt and I'm good with that because I like to hear Travis Tritt sing. (Also for the record, I love to hear Miranda Lambert sing because her songs remind me of all the crazy southern women I have met in my life.)
Anyway.
I am southern, born southern, and except for a few mandatory and voluntary forays out into the rest of the universe?  I've managed to stay put. However, I have been in a kind of exile of my own making.  It's not because I talk funny for here.  I talk regular for here.  It's not because I can't fathom the culture.  Lol I can fathom it til the cows come home....   
So I'm thinking after reading a post or two I came here by an accident of curiosity and it's that southern curiosity that my mother said did in the cat.  Every once in a while there's divine in it.
Providence I hope
So hello and please write back even if I seem a stranger and strange.
It's not me to blame.  It's my southern nature.


Dogs are barking.  This one is a lovey but also a worry wart. 

Regards to you and your kin,

Writer Ann
PS  Do you speak southern?

And a link to the blog...

http://dixiebonespost.com/http:/dixiebonespost.com/2013/10/nelson-head/civil-disobedience-is-alive-well/#comment-11595


Come back if you get a notion...

Writer Ann

PS People blame the South and the heat,  I blame the Irish and the Scots.  I don't "blame" them, it's just that those cultures have had so much of an influence on the area.  They didn't just stay inside the fort. They visited outside too.

They tell great stories about the world big and small.

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