I’ve mentioned that my friend Emily and I exchange three thankfuls every morning. She has also been in the habit of telling me good morning in a different language every day as well as a little tidbit of information about the country it hails from. It intimidates me to think about traveling to foreign countries because I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to effectively communicate. And I don’t just mean directions to the restroom or ordering supper. Like, what if I get over there and have an attack of appendicitis and I can’t convey my symptoms to the doctor? Yes, I’m aware of the invention of Google translate, but still. Time is of the essence! So she also includes how much of the population speaks English, that way I can add it to my list of potential vacation destinations if it sounds like a nice place to visit. We are finding that our perceptions of other countries are a bit biased. We’ve decided that our geography teachers led us astray. We think it’s because we’re conditioned to believe that the United States is the greatest country on Earth, so why in the world would be want to leave? England is nice if you’re into history and the royals, and Australia could be worthy of a visit if you stick to the coastal regions. Maybe when we were in school all those foreign country’s names ran together and we were told they border each other so I’m sure they all just got lumped together as scary and bad. However, I’ve learned that some of these countries, like Lithuania, is perfectly lovely. But I can’t visit because English isn’t even in the top five languages. Macedonia, near Greece, isn’t always hot. They have four seasons, and like us, their coldest month is January and the hottest is July. But then she hits me with ones like this: “Dobry ranch is Belarusian. Unlike the other hidden gems I’ve been learning about, Belarus is just as bleak as we’ve been taught. When they originally broke away from Russia we were buddies with them but that didn’t last long. The US has accused Belarus for crimes against humanity in recent years. You probably don’t want to vacation there.”
All that to say this morning I get: “Kemey hadirki! That’s the way to say good morning to a female in Eritrea, which borders Sudan and Ethiopia. They speak Tigrinya and not a lot of English but it shouldn’t effect you because after reading about it there’s no way in hell I’d let you go visit Eritrea. Between the wildlife, landmines, and kidnappers it isn’t safe at all. I didn’t come across one thing that made me want to visit.”
It’s nice that she could be my travel guide, if I come into a windfall or something. It also reminded me of that meme that says, “Growing up, I thought quicksand would pose a much larger danger in my day to day life.” Gen-X, y’all feel me? It was on every show, not just Gilligan’s Island!

It is sooooo cold today. My hands got cold this morning, so the rest of me is now cold. I’ve been practically sitting on top of my little space heater. The Smoky Bears Team #100 is headed off to the State playoffs in Chattanooga today, and we’ve been encouraged to line the streets. They’re going to be detouring by the Courthouse at 1:00. I guess to get some best wishes luck from Dolly. I hope they win, but I ain’t braving the cold to wave at a school bus full of them.

I had a hair appointment at 2. I walk in and it’s Christy and Lindsey and the room felt off. I figure they’ve just had a mother daughter dispute and tread carefully. Lindsey was flat ironing her hair and Christy’s was down. They informed me they had business in Knoxville after the last couple of clients. They didn’t invite me along, which was unusual, but I was glad because I needed to go by the grocery store on my way home. Jason got home and came in and flopped into the hair dryer chair.
“I’m glad to see you. I need a really big favor,” I wheedled.
He eyed me levelly.
“My dang air pressure is low in my tires. They do this at every cold snap. Willie used to take care of it for me. Last year I swung by Co-op and Richard did, but he kept filling them even after my car honked at him and it made me nervous. I spent the whole winter wondering if they were gonna blow.”
“As long as they’re even all the way around, they’re fine,” Christy said.
Without the first word, Jason heaved himself from the chair and out the door.
“I hope I didn’t put him in a bad mood. I know that’s the last thing he wants to do after working all day.”
Christy assured me it was fine, they have a portable air compressor that is about the same size as a small tool box. Lindsey piped up that he’d just used it on hers the other day. They set my heart at ease, even more so when he brought it in and showed it to me. I swear, I really don’t know what I’d do without the Finchums. I depend on them so much. So much more than a beauty shop. It really is like Truvy’s ❤️
“Thanks for the hair and air!” I called, heading out.

At Food City, I stumbled upon the Little Debbie Christmas tree donuts. I grabbed a bag, praying they were at least better than those nasty muffins.
Somehow, I managed to spend over $200. When I got home I realized one of my roasts rang up $6 high. The other one was right. How does this happen? And more importantly, what else has been screwed up over the years that I haven’t caught? The only reason I caught this is because it was $18 and I thought, “What in tarnation did I buy that was $18?!?!” A $12 roast, that’s what. So now I get to fool with that first thing Monday. (What? You think I’m going out this weekend? You are sadly mistaken. I took a picture of my receipt alongside the roast and dumped it in a freezer bag. I didn’t plan on carting it back over there, either. Hopefully this would suffice. After I got a couple of bags of bad potatoes, I mentioned it to the produce manager. He said I needn’t transport smelly potatoes back, just tell them. I suppose I have an honest face, because where’s the accountability. Or maybe they figure if you’ll lie about getting rotten potatoes, you need them worse than they do.

Today’s writing prompt was “do you ever see wild animals?”
Well, I’m looking at a fur covered 80# wild child right now….
I guess this is a pertinent question for city dwellers. But surely they still see birds with regularity….and rats.
Glad I’m not a city dweller. I’ll take my groundhogs, deer, coyotes, and snakes over your buildings, smog, and grime any day.

Love from Appalachia,
~Amy