Sunday, September 23, 2007

It's all in your state of mind...

After living here for seven weeks, I have come to realize I am no longer in the state of Texas. I know, it took me a while but hey, I'm a Texan. I always thought I was a Southerner but I am learning I am really just a Texan. On more than one occasion conversations with friends have ended, "You can tell you're not a Southerner."

Tea is a big deal here. It has to be sweet, but not like the sweet tea in Texas. Sweet tea in Texas is tea sweetened so it has a hint of sweetness. Sweet tea in Alabama isn't sweet enough unless it has the consistancy of syrup. Some are also picky about how fresh it is. I have a friend who won't drink it unless it was made that day. You will also find it at every restaurant in the state. I got sweet tea at a Wendy's. You can't do that in Texas.

They also pepper everything here. I like pepper, in moderation. Here "in moderation" means if you can't see it, it ain't got enough.

Food is not the only thing that is different. If you read my blog regularly, you already know about some of the critters I have encountered here in the wilds of Alabama. Well, I saw another one today at the post office, of all places. It was a walking stick. It was about five inches long. I thought it was just a twig leaning on the curb until I saw it move and realized it had legs.

Sunny and I had a little excitement yesterday. I was walking back from the coffee shop when I heard someone call my name. I realized it was Sunny. When she saw she had my attention she asked me to go get a broom and to be quick about it. She said this in a kind of voice one uses when a dangerous animal is around and you don't want to make it mad by yelling.

I got the broom and took it to her as quickly as a could. She had been checking the mail when she stumbled on to a snake. She didn't recognize what kind it was and she didn't know if it was poisonous. So she beat it to death with a broom. In Texas, we would have used a shovel.

After it was good and dead, we got out Kevin's snake book and identified it. It was a Southern Hognosed Snake. It was not poisonous and it ate fire ants. We also learned the babies hatch in late September and early October. So that's why it was only 5 inches long and it was the third one we had seen. Well, at least now we know.



The weather is also a different story here. The other day the weathermen were watching a tropical storm out in the gulf. They kept mentioning the high winds of 35 mph. I actually chuckled when I saw that because 35 mph in Amarillo is a normal day. We don't become concerned about the wind until it reaches at least 70 mph.

I still like it here and hope to have better news for you in the coming months. I am not sure what is going to happen with all the changes that are going to be taking place around here. Please keep praying for me. Thanks for reading.

No comments: