The Essential Herbalist

Recent Posts

Things I have learned living in Tennessee

in

Possums "sleep" in the middle of the road with their feet in the air.  

There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,998 live in Tennessee.   

There are 10,000 types of spiders. All 10,000 live in Tennessee plus a couple no one's seen before. They all live in my garden!

If it grows, it sticks; if it crawls, it bites.  

 "Onced" and "twiced" are words.   

 It is not a shopping cart; it is a buggy.    

People actually grow and eat okra.   

"Fixinto" is one word.   

There is no such thing as lunch. There is only dinner and then there is supper.   

Iced tea is appropriate for all meals, and you start drinking it when you're two. We do like a little tea with our sugar!   

"Backards and forwards" means "I know everything about you."  

"DJeet?" is actually a phrase meaning "Did you eat?"     

You don't have to wear a watch because it doesn't matter what time it is. You work until you're done or it's too dark to see.  

You don't PUSH buttons, you MASH them.

Just a note  I DID NOT start my children on sweet tea at the age of two!    More about Tennessee tomorrow!                                                                                                          

Comments

10 responses to “Things I have learned living in Tennessee”

  1. Elizabeth Avatar
    Elizabeth

    Just recently came across your blog…enjoying reading it. This entry is so funny…we have only lived in NC now for 4 years…having lived all our lives in the West. One day my college daughter came home laughing her head off over some kids talking to each other at the elevator about “Mashing” the button…we always thought you mashed potatoes, not elevator buttons! The buggy thing for grocery carts is hilarious too…we still find humor in the idioms. I suppose they think we speak funny too.

    Like

    Reply
  2. Patrice Avatar
    Patrice

    That list is TOO FUNNY!!! I hope you can avoid all those spiders and snakes. Where do you think the phrase “playing possum” came from? I hope you have a great day.Patrice

    Like

    Reply
  3. TNfarmgirl Avatar
    TNfarmgirl

    Hi Elizabeth!So glad you found me 🙂 It’s true….here in the south we tend to live in our own little world and at a bit slower pace….and others find it really funny…but it is amazing how many move here! I loved the west when I lived out in Washington – but don’t think I would like California at all :)Blessings,Cheri

    Like

    Reply
  4. TNfarmgirl Avatar
    TNfarmgirl

    Hi Patrice! Seems the boys find most of the snakes – although I nearly stepped on one last summer…barefoot! But, I find ALL of the spiders in the garden…eeekkkk! I just hate spiders but I tolerate them because they are so beneficial….well…except for the black widows – all of those get terminated!Blessings!Cheri

    Like

    Reply
  5. Amy Avatar
    Amy

    Missouri is just as bad as Tennessee. I know because I live in MO but my mom (and her family) are TN hillbillies. Doesn’t that calling lunch dinner thing bug you? When I hear someone say dinner I can never tell if they actually mean lunch or if they are one of the sane ones that know dinner is served in the evening. :)You’ve probably heard of certain new englanders who drop the letter “R” in pronunciation, but I can do you one better. Here in MO, the old-timers add an “R” where there is none. Examples: “Don’t worry about the mess, it’ll warsh.” or “Our nation’s capital is Warshington, DC.” I have to admit I talked like that too – when I was a little kid. Then I grew up and came to my senses.

    Like

    Reply
  6. TNfarmgirl Avatar
    TNfarmgirl

    Hi Amy,Well…since I was raised in the south I am used to having lunch called dinner and the evening meal is called supper. I refer to the noon meal as lunch or dinner – just depends on the mood I guess 🙂 I have heard the added “r” in a variety of southern places too. I never did do that nor do I recall anyone but my Grandma (from Indiana) doing that in my family.Blessings,Cheri

    Like

    Reply
  7. Elizabeth Avatar
    Elizabeth

    Well, actually we did live most of our lives in Washington state, but our son and his family (with our only grandchildren so far and probably for yet some time) were coming here to be near some of dil’s family. So we came. I grew up for most of my childhood in California…so yea, you are right…Washington is preferable, by far. It has been fun to sing the Beach Boys song to hubby at times however (“Wish they all could be California girls”)…ha!!Thanks for the welcome to your blog too!Elizabeth

    Like

    Reply
  8. Julia Avatar
    Julia

    I just love southern anecdotes!The south seems to be what America needs the most these days–snakes, spiders, supper and button-mashing.I have relatives in South Carolina. I went to visit my ailing grandmother a few years ago and stayed for a week. Wow! I’ve never seen so many smiles. Everyone looked you in the eye and smiled a great big smile like you were some long-lost friend. Smiles in California were mostly reserved for a good wave set (I grew up on the beach and never got on a surfboard, how’s that for fish-out-of-water?). We finally moved away from the golden state…it’s lost a lot of shine. We’re still in the west, but it’s colder and more northern. Smiles are even harder to find. The irony is that when I strike up a conversation with someone who returns my smiles…I find out they’re from California!But, sometimes I still yearn for another week in the South where people hand out warmth and acceptance so freely. My cousins and aunt have an open invitation, so one day…I would love for my kids to see the real happiest place on earth. 🙂

    Like

    Reply
  9. Amy Avatar
    Amy

    It’s good to know that other people throw in the extra “R”s on occasion. :)I agree about the tea. I don’t know when I started drinking tea but it must have been pretty early. Tea and water are just about the only things my mom’s family drink.When we were dating, I would let my soon to be husband have a drink from my tea glass while we sat on the garden swing. I’d have to tell him not to mind the green leaves in it or he’d pick them out thinking they fell in by accident. I wonder why he thought my tea always had a minty flavor. 🙂 He doesn’t pick out the mint anymore, but he won’t put any in his glass.

    Like

    Reply
  10. TNfarmgirl Avatar
    TNfarmgirl

    Amy,Mmmmmm….mint tea. So glad the mint is finally up :)Cheri

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment