Wednesday, January 18, 2012

You can take the girl out of the south.....


 I was raised in the south - South Carolina to be exact.  32 years of my life were spent in South Carolina, North Carolina or Georgia.  I'm almost 44 now so I am calculating that after ten years in good ole Southern California I am only 1//4 Californian.

Things I miss from the south: 
Waffle House 
Cheese eggs, Raisin Toast with APPLE BUTTER and grits.  Yes sir-ee Bob.





Mainstream Prayer
I recently traveled to a small town on the coast of North Carolina where I stayed at a small hotel that served breakfast.  As I sat down to eat my biscuits with butter and jelly I looked around the room and noticed that four of the five other people sitting down had their heads bowed for grace.   That just doesn't happen in California - much to my chagrin.

Distant cousins
I can't say that in my ten+ years in California I have ever had anyone introduce to me their "third-cousin-once-removed".  Heck,  no one out here even seems to understand the once-removed part.  Don't they have family trees in California?   In the south, we know who our cousins are.  If for nothing else,  so we can be sure we don't marry 'em.


Neighboring
My grandmother used "neighbor" as a verb.  We're going to go neighboring she would say.  This usually entailed taking some home cooked jam or sweets and visiting.  The visiting part was pretty painful as it typically took place in the living room and involved a lot of sitting on uncomfortable couches and trying not to look bored.    Unfailingly there were a lot of old family pictures sitting around I could stare at and a Bible in the room.  A worn, well-read and visible Bible just sitting on the end-table where everyone could see. 


Covered Dish Suppers 
This falls under the category of "don't knock it until you have tried it".  Once a year I return to a homecoming service at my ancestors church and enjoy a true Southern covered dish supper.  Fried Chicken, deviled eggs, casseroles of every variety known to man, and more desserts that you could ever imagine.    Yes, I miss them but my thighs sure are happy to be in the land of organic wheat grass smoothies. 

So, you can take the girl out of the south - but you can't take the south out of the girl.  At least, I hope not. 



3 comments:

  1. Love this post and the 3rd cousin once removed cracked me up. I remember not so long ago being in a huge argument with a family member over the fact if she was a 3rd or once removed. We decided we were 3rd and our mothers were our 2nd once removed. LOL Also, I'm nosy!! Why the move to CA??

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  2. Nice post! We lived in Missouri for several years and loved the Waffle House!

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    1. Thanks so much for commenting on my blog.... There is nothing quite like Waffle House!

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