Good to Know

Here are a few things I have observed after living 3 weeks in rural Tennessee:

1. Most people here think that Texans have an overinflated ego/opinion about the great State of Texas.

2. They don't like Bud Adams either.

3. Road kill is road kill...but here they know how to turn it into a meal.

4. When the road sign shows an approaching curve and a suggested speed, you best take heed. When it says 25 mph...take it at 25 mph else you might find yourself careening over the edge of a ridge.

5. No matter how smart and well trained you think your dog is...they will ALWAYS chase after
a skunk.

6. Don't even think about leaving home without going to the bathroom first. It's 20 miles to the closest town and they aren't too keen on letting you use the bathroom, no matter how bad you have to go.

7. 5 corner intersections do exist....I don't know why, but they do.

8. A man walking down the road with a chainsaw in one hand and pickax in the other is not necessarily a serial killer.

9. Weather is weather and the local TV personalities get just as hyped about it here as they do in Houston, although I haven't heard the phrase, "there's ponding on the freeway" yet. That may be special just for Houston.

10. Speaking of driving...here are a few oddities:

*if you go the posted speed on the interstate, people look at you funny as you pass them
**if you go the posted speed on the loop, people look at you funny as they pass you
*** the abbreviation "pk" after the name of a street is not parkway, it's pike
****the same street can change names 3 or 4 times as you drive across Nashville and they keep apologizing for it...I just laugh

Bonus: Being in this remote setting is both a blessing and a curse. When I open my mouth to say something, my accent is not that different from the people around me, but I often feel like a foreigner in my own country. My politics, my faith, my social agendas, my "liberal" views are not shared by many I encounter.