On becoming "southern"....

Weeeellll, if you're reading this and you are one of my beloved Yankee friends....don't panic.  Well, you can panic a little...but I was inspired to write this post after having a chat with a friend from up north.  I called her to say hey..."hey girl!  How ah you?" is what I guess I said....I didn't think I said it that way, but after she finished her fit of laughing, that's how she said I said it.

Hmmm.....you know, I can't hear it!  When I talk to my northern friends, I just sound normal, but I guess their speech does sound a little crisper, more stilted than mine.  Anywhoo....I would just like to set the record straight and say that after almost 7, yes 7, years of living down here, I have become more "southern" than I ever thought I would.  

I you had asked me 7 years ago when we were moving down here if I would ever unknowingly speak with a slight southern accent, tolerate country music, know what grits are, do what? at a pig pickin', get accustomed to spiders as big as my fist and love lizards (they are SO cute!)...I would have given you a good ole' northern dirty look.  

Moving down, I guess I had some disdain for the southern way of living.  I am ashamed to say that, actually.  Truth is, I didn't know the people down here, I had never LIVED down here and all of my knowledge came from TV shows or movies....not the best sources.

I have to say that moving down here was tough....I felt like a foreigner in a strange land.  When people spoke I had to listen really carefully and translate it in my head back into English....when I understood it!  lol

But I have to say that I'm proud to be a Yank living in the South.  I am sincerely fond of my funny, drawly friends.  The accent only makes life funnier in most situations.  In fact, you can get away with saying pretty much anything as long as you have a drawl!  

As for country music...it's growing on me, barbecue?  LOVE IT....grits....not so much.  Winters are pure heaven here and summers are full of lazy days.  Families are tight, children are plentiful, the days are longer, the sky is bluer and life, my friend, in the south, is just plain good.  Love it.  

I never thought I'd say that, but it's true!  Love my friends, love my house, yard, the seasons, the cows, the tobacco fields, the community events, the beaches, the horses, EVERYTHING!  Well, not everything...I still don't like hush puppies, namely b/c I can't figure out what they are....but ALMOST EVERYTHING!  (except for the coyotes who slaughter small animals in the middle of the night in our backyard)

So, yes, I guess I'm becoming southern and if you have a chat with me and I say "y'all", you can laugh...I won't mind.  The south has mellowed me, smoothed out some rough edges, stretched me and I'm never going back!