Southern Life #1

I live in the South. Actually the MID-South, Nashville Tennessee. Music City USA. I am not a "Suthunuh," however. I don't have a southern accent being born and raised in Colorado. I don't chew 'tobakky' and do not listen to country music. (Living in Nashville this is almost a sin, but I try not to advertise that too much.) I have lived here for about 20 years and consider myself STILL not a "Suthunuh." 20 Years has given me a rather large number of 'Suthunuh' stories which I will attempt to write down now and then. Today, is a mere irritation.

Life here is laid back, uniquely Southern. It's odd.

Take today for example. For the last week, there have been only 2 days with sunshine. The rest of the time has been intermittent and steady rainfall. This happens every year about this time. There are reports of Tornadoes, and the local weather people show you those nifty weather radar maps, giving us a gleeful street by street tracing of tornadoes, would be tornadoes, and anything that may someday, if given the right situations turn into a tornado.

Back to the rain. Nashville is built on rock. yes, there's topsoil, but mainly just below the topsoil is rock. You need dynamite to put in a garden. Now, put this together with all that rain, and you get a very soggy area. Translated: Humidity. The humidity can reach 90-99% without precipitation. Nothing dries out in the air. The dishrag on the kitchen sink must be replaced daily because it mildews so easily.

Now, this brings me to the reason for my rant this morning. When I come out to my car, everything is covered in a heavy coating of moisture. The windshield of my car is covered in a heavy foggy mist. This is not the problem, however, as my windshield wipers make quick work of it. The problem is that the humidity is so high that the fog returns almost immediately.

So, there I am, driving down the road, not a drop of rain insight, but with the wipers on full tilt to keep ahead of the foggy windshield. The only nice thing is that I'm not alone. Most of the cars on the road, even those kept in a garage overnight are cold enough to produce the same effect.

Southern Life. Gotta love it...or at least tolerate it.