20140324_162406Welcome to my world. My world is deep in Georgia in a place that is well known for it’s civil war prison (Andersonville). Georgia peaches, pecans and cotton are also well known at least they are to those in the rest of the world who have even heard of Georgia. 

Oh we have other uniquely Georgia experiences. We have our own language for instance that mirrors English but is not quite English and takes at least two years to understand a lot of it and about ten years to master it. We have not just 4 seasons we have 5. We have one of the most annoying insects that God ever created. We have the most friendly unfriendly people in the USA. At the same time we have some of the most incredible people anywhere. In my corner of Georgia we have some of the most peaceful acres of any of God’s green acres. 

The language spoken here sounds a lot like English and it kind of is but so many people here think that the first consonant in every word is the only necessary consonant to pronounce. The use of an interpreter may be necessary for the newby especially if the newby is a Yankee. One is rarely greeted by “Hi” or “Hello” but by the much friendlier “Hey” and sometimes followed by “y’all.” We say “Y’all” and “All y’all” quite a lot here. A popular expression used in surprise or frustration or delight is “Dad gum it!” Even after 10 years I am still not sure what “dad gum it” means but I use it all the time. No one in Georgia is “about to do” anything, we don’t move that fast. Instead we are “fixin to do any number of things. Ladies have an expression in Georgia that only ladies use. the expression “Bless his, her or it’s heart” is one that they use after severely insulting someone. For example ” Would you look at that boy’s hair. It looks exactly like a bunch of turnip greens, bless his heart.”  Only women can get away with that. if a Georgia good ol boy were to use that expression he would most certainly be talkin to his self for a good long time.

Georgia as I wrote earlier has 5 seasons include 3 weeks of spring 2 weeks of summer the season of HOT that lasts sometimes from late April through the end of October. Spring and summer pass by so quickly that it seems like they are just a memory even as we are experiencing the few days of spring and summer that God gives to Georgia. We then have 3 and sometimes 5 weeks of autumn and winter slams in to us from November until March.  Our 5th season is a season that no one not even politicians with all of the hot air they generate could enjoy. This is a season that is not just hot, it’s HOT. Hotlanta didn’t get it’s name by accident. I grew up in the North East and thought I knew HOT. I was wrong. Today is just 98 degrees. Only 9 more weeks of HOT………………sigh.

Tomorrow: Gnats For anyone reading this who does not know what a gnat or a gnat line is thank your lucky stars.