You said drive UP to town, why am I going south?

We have an odd custom for referring to travel direction here in the southern Appalachian area I live. I'm about 30 min. north of a nearby town, and 1000 feet lower in elevation since I'm in the river valley and it's further up the ridge. If I was going to the town, I would say I'm going UP there. And likewise, if a friend in town complains it's snowing, I can reply that we just have rain down here. 


I think it's mostly a holdover from horse/wagon days, when having to climb a nearby mountain was a better indicator of where the next town was than just a compass point. And believe me, every mountain and hill here has a name, and often when people complain of the weather or traffic it's by mountain name rather than towns - seems they're still the default landmarks despite our ease traversing them. Also, it's usually quite a bit colder on the ridges compared to the valleys, and it just feels right to refer to a colder place as ‘up from here’.


Coming from the North originally I found this seeming inversion of direction ridiculous and refused to join in. I'm north of town dammit! Everyone knows north/south! Why say you'll drive up to a town, when you're actually heading south? I argued the point at first, but after I accepted the shift, it seems to fit so much better than something like a compass point. And now I refer to locations by up/down elevations rather than map directions by default. And so does everyone else. Until you have a visitor from the north, and you  accidentally add an hour onto their expected drive time because they thought when I said we'd drive up to town, they thought that town was north of here.

You're doing it wrong

Some recent landscaping in the lot next to my office building. I'm not sure which tickles me more- that these trees stayed "planted" on the asphalt all summer, or that they refreshed the blacktop around the trees (note the blackened mulch) rather than wait for them to be moved. The trees went through full leafing and flowering cycles happily (?) growing on the pavement. They were finally removed to their final home just before the fall weather started.

Jewelry - nom nom nom

So the Pub has these fabulous onion rings. The kind that even people who don't like rings will devour. Reminds me of this restaurant my parents used to take us to as little kids. I feel like we went there somewhat often, but all I remember are 3 things: Dipping lemon wedges in sugar packets when we were getting fussy because the food was late (How cool Mom was for teaching us that!). Peeling the bubbly cheese off the outside of bowls of french onion soup. And the onion rings. I didn't like the onion itself so would break the ring and pull out the wriggly onion and put it on Mom's plate, then eat the savory crispy batter. The Pub's rings are like that, but I'm happy I enjoy the onion part now as well. In fact I always root around in the basket for the endcaps that have a high onion ratio. Juicy, sweet, crunchy, soft inside - so fantastic. One night the onions they used were particularly large, and turned into Oniony Bangles. I wore them a few minutes, then the silly got a hold of me and it came time to eat them. Cell phone photography in a dark bar - Brilliant!

Small towns are teh coolz

Living in a small town really has its advantages. This afternoon I was at a birthday party for a friend, and after listening to her grandkids perform a breathtaking strings & piano concert (Bach, Chopin, etc) I was looking around to see if I knew anyone. I was thrilled to unexpectedly spot a friend I used to dance with but haven't seen in almost 2 years. We had a great time catching up,
sharing what's changed and our future plans. Also admiring the new tattoos we've each gotten since we last saw each other. It was uplifting to hear her plans and goals for the future, the kind of things that just make you smile with happiness for the other person. All around today has been yet another great B'burg Saturday. The only downsides were that it was too hot (69°) to be wearing jeans out with the dogs, and Katie deciding to douse herself with "eau de poop" cologne on our trek. Ah well, at least they'll be clean after their baths. Yeah, that's a silver lining to justify a half hour bent over the bathtub scrubbing beasts. Guess I better get crackin'