Southern Comfort

Well, I think I successfully proved that you can take a boy out of the South, but you can't take the South out of the boy. Here's why...

Proof #1 

I was semi fussy when I woke up this morning, nothing out of the ordinary, so out of instinct I grabbed my Alabama shirt and put it on. I almost grabbed my Bama hat, but quickly realized that since I was not going to a sporting event, 2 Alabama articles of clothing might be too much. None-the-less, my Alabama shirt made me very happy today.

Proof #2

For dinner tonight I cooked BBQ ribs, baked beans, and corn on the cob. I would have made cornbread, but my oven isn't the biggest (although, thankfully bigger than most here!) and I didn't want to take the time to wait on the cornbread after everything had already cooked. The ribs were absolute perfection! I covered the corn in butter, and the baked beans were really good as well.

Proof #3 (I'm almost ashamed to admit this)

When it was time to clean up from dinner, I was in the mood to listen to music. I went straight for Rascal Flats, followed by "Sweet Home Alabama," and then that shady song "All Summer Long."

Proof #4

The sweat tea is brewing as we speak... I failed to remember to make it in time for dinner!

Proof #5

I ENJOYED EVERY SINGLE MINUTE OF IT!!!

So... when I was in high school, I'm reluctant to admit that I simply hated the state of Alabama. Turns out I was an IDIOT in high school.  I love the South. I love the smell of summer in the South. I love the roaring football-filled days in the fall of the South . I love how Christmas decorations cover yards filled with dead leaves and grass rather than snow in the winter in the South. I love the sweet smell of wild honeysuckle in the late spring in the South. I love how tonight somehow turned into an ode to the South. And I love how one day my crimson blood will flow quickly as my heart races because once again I've stepped onto Southern ground!

Only one Southern treasure would have made this day better. Care to venture a guess??

It's hot...

...and I started sweating pretty much all the time a week or so ago. I'll let you know when I stop. Gross thought? At least I use deodorant! When I worked in Savannah, GA, one summer I had to take a shower when I thought about opening the door. Here, you need another shower before you get out of the one you're in!! 

Bamboo... Truly a Miracle

Today at lunch I began a discussion with some of my friends about the amazing versatility of bamboo. Below is a list of things you can do with bamboo. Sit back, enjoy, and be amazed at the "wonder plant."

1. You can eat the stuff and it's pretty good I must say. Today we had bamboo shoots and pork! 

2. You can make scaffolding with it. ALL scaffolding here is bamboo. You might recall a Rush Hour quote: "Chinese bamboo very strong!"

3. You can use it to beat people with. Grant it, that's not a happy thought, but who made the claim that all facts were happy? (Not sugar coating life is my gift. What can I say?)

4. You can build a house with bamboo. A pretty good one too! 

5. You can make a mat to sleep on. 

6. You can use them as stakes for your tomato (or whatever) plants.

7. You can fashion cooking tools to cook with bamboo.

8. You can make bamboo chopsticks.

9. You can make seat covers for your car.

10. You can fashion dishes such as cups and plates.

11. You can burn bamboo to cook or to stay warm in the winter.

12. You can grow a thicket of bamboo to block out noise. 

13. You can make a bamboo picture frame.

14. You can make a bamboo instrument to play as you sit around your bamboo fire, cooking your bamboo to eat.

15. You can feed bamboo to your pet panda. Although, I must admit, I have a feeling that having a panda as a pet might put you in jail and might make #3 a reality in your life.

16. You can fashion a pipe to hold your plant of choice to smoke. 

17. You can own bamboo as simply a plant which gives off aesthetic value and allows you to complete upper levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

18. You can use bamboo leaves to fashion clothes. After all, if Eve was able to fashion garments out of fig leaves, I'm certain bamboo leaves would work as well. 

19. For you Lost fans out there, you can tie former foreign military men to a tree and shove pieces of bamboo under their fingernails until they produce the answers to your questions. 

20. Bamboo can be used as a walking cane.

21. I'm certain that dogs would be willing to use a stick of bamboo as a toy to fetch with. 

22. Bamboo can also be used to make furniture. In fact, I own a bench made entirely out of the stuff. 

23. You can make a ladder out of bamboo

24. Bamboo, in the hands of the right cobbler, can be made into shoes.

25. Bamboo can also be made to make very pleasing wind chimes.

There you go! You can do almost anything with bamboo really. Economic times hit you hard? Find a few seeds of bamboo and grow yourself a successful future!! Money may not grow on tress, but bamboo IS a tree!