Q: In your opinion, what are some differences between a New Hampshirite and a Tennessean?
Eric: I will tell you one thing I noticed. The checkout lines at Wal-Mart are ridiculously long and people are so polite down here that they don’t seem to care. Here, the checkout person will strike up a ten-minute conversation with you and everyone else before or after you. This definitely didn’t happen back in New England. If there were more than three in a line I saw people visibly agitated and a few “come on, move it” here and there. So I would say a New Hampshirite is always in a rush with little patience. A Tennessean has all the time in the world.
Q: What do you think my favorite thing to do here is?
Eric: I’m going to say walking Chance, but mowing the lawn is very close. I told you that you would be outdoors more here and I was right. You’re out with the dog over a dozen times a day and back home there were days you hardly left the house!
(editor’s note: a major exaggeration)
Q: What do you think is Chance’s favorite thing to do here?
Eric: Run, run, and more running! He ran so much yesterday you had to give him doggie aspirin for his sore muscles this morning.
Q: Has it been hot enough for you yet?
Eric: I haven’t worn pants once since we moved in. The other day it reached 98°. It was the first time we turned on our newly-installed air conditioning unit, just to see if it was working properly. We turned it off after fifteen minutes when you started complaining it was getting too cold. The farmhouse, now “workshop”, was basically a sweat shop when I was bending wood that day. The boiling water made everything a little hotter. So far I love the weather here and have not turned on the ac or used a fan yet in the workshop. But you should ask me the same question after July and August.
(editor’s note: I definitely will! And will take pictures too!)
Q: What annoyed you this week?
Eric: Long lines…
Keep on writing, great job!