THINGS I DIDN’T KNOW BEFORE

Teachable moments? No, more like teachable YEARS. There’s so much I didn’t know about living in the rural South. For instance, water goes off when the power is out. You can take free dirt from the cemetery. The feed and grain place can also fix a loose alternator. A hog snake will play dead. Your patch of wild blackberries will be lost if the kudzu gets to it. Copperhead snakes will charge at you. A goat will eat the leather seat of a visitor’s fancy car if they’ve parked where the goat chain can reach. Baby deer really are cute as Bambi. A turkey will crash through the window of your pickup if you and the bird have your timing synched up. Wind rushing through treetops of a large forest sounds just like waves crashing on the beach. If someone offers to “carry” you into town they mean in their vehicle. And more, so much more. I must start taking better notes.