Things I will miss about Alabama

We left Alabama.

Wife got a job back up north. In New Jersey, outside of Atlantic City.

I wasn't ready to leave yet. It was too soon. I was only barely just beginning to incorporate the pace of life into my own rhythms, make them a real part of me. I was only just beginning to get a sense of how I could incorporate the politics of the place into my own political philosophy, rationalize those things that made no sense to me by examining them from whence they came. Like the statute of Nathan Bedford Forrest in the Selma Cemetery. The incongruity of just that. Right there. And how the majority of the people who still live in Alabama try to rise above their past, while honoring it at the same time.

It was starting to change me. And I welcomed it.

And I miss it, terribly.

Even though I stuck out like a sore thumb.

Here are the top 10 things (in no particular order) I'll miss about Alabama

1. The 200 acres of farmland in Macon County that I camped on, hunted on, and moved cows on, and that brought me peace and quiet so many times
2. The pine trees swinging in the wind
3. The sound of the whippoorwill on spring and fall nights
4. The color of the sunshine, so bright
5. The Auburn family
6. The smell of football on fall Saturdays in the South
7. The friendliness of strangers
8. The waves of people in cars driving through the neighborhood
9. $17 golf
10. The friends we made there

This blog is now finished.

Roundup of interesting facts I've learned so far

In no particular order:

1. Armadillos carry leprosy. Ewww.
2. Deer sausage is really, really, really good.
3. Collard greens are good in a soup, but fricking nasty when they're cooked normally. (Boiled, then simmered with a ham hock for what seems like forever. Verdict? Still gross.)
4. It seems we are the only people in the neighborhood to sleep with their windows open at night. This seems weird to me.
5. I know I will be going hunting for deer this fall / winter.
6. I know that if I actually do kill a deer, I will cry. Maybe not right then and there, but eventually.
7. I am ok with the above two items. I actually think this is healthy. We've been removed from our food sources for too long.
8. The only way to get rid of an armadillo is to either remove its food source, or kill it.
9. The landlord opted for option #1.
10. Armadillos are gross. And they grunt.
11. The redneck version of cow-tipping is armadillo kicking. Because they can't see well, you approach them from behind and commence launching. Be prepared for your foot to hurt due to their hard shells.
12. I have not participated in either cow-tipping or armadillo kicking.
13. 11am kick-offs make a football game family day at the stadium. All the kiddies are there.
14. Booing is very much frowned upon at said stadium. Especially in front of kids. I did not know this.  :-/
15. Additionally, when you say things like, "Hey Ref! Get off your knees, you're blowing the game!" you get frowned at.

So, them's it so far

On open windows and Armadillos

After along stretch of very hot weather (ever since we got here in mid-July it's been in the mid 90's), we've gotten a reprieve and temperatures have plummeted to the low 80's. Here's our forecast for the next five days

Today - high of 82, Sunny

Tomorrow - high of 80, Sunny

Saturday - high of 78, Sunny

Sunday - high of 74, Sunny

Monday - high of 75, Sunny

Not very consistent, sure, but beautiful, nonetheless. Because of this, it's time to open the windows and blow the stink out of this joint.. Also, when the humidity is low, there is no better sleeping weather. So, we've thoroughly enjoyed the brisk evenings. We even pulled out our comforter to keep warm and toasty.

Because of the cooler temperatures and our open windows, we pretty much hear everything that is going on in the neighborhood (the opposite is true, as well, of course). And lately, we've had a visitor to the neighborhood. As this post's title suggests, our neighborhood has served as a buffet table to an armadillo.

Yes, we have them here in Alabama. I was surprised by this, frankly. I had always thought they were basically just in Texas for the sole purpose of providing fodder for cars. (You just hit an armadillo! 10 points!) But no, according to this Wikipedia article, the little buggers are all over the South, reaching as far north as Nebraska!

And they're ugly, too. Look at them. They're creepy looking, a leftover from a distant age. Like alligators or a rhinoceros, they look like they could have been roamed the Earth with the dinosaurs (which they probably did.) Brrrrrr....gives me the shivers.

As some of you also know, we have a Jack Russell terrier who like to do two things: 1) act like he's protecting us, and 2) kill rodent-like animals. So last night at 2:30 am, our visitor makes his appearance in our rose bushes looking for grubs underneath the pine straw (quick aside: instead of mulch, we have pine straw. Same idea (inhibit weeds), different ingredient) and our little guy hears him. And he goes nuts, barking his head off. Me being the man, I get up with the flashlight to go check out what is causing our little guy to freak out and wake up the rest of the neighborhood. I look out our window, and directly under our window, I see the little bastard, grunting away. 

Grunting. They sound like piglets searching for food. And I have to admit, I was little skeeved out. I mean, it was grunting, and it looked like a giant rat, except armored with sharp claws.

Yes, I admit. I was emasculated by a 10 pound rodent. 

But it has claws! And it grunts!

Anyway, now I have to apologize to the neighbors for my dog's barking at 3 am, contact the landlord to see what he wants to do about, and grow a set. Maybe purchase a long broom stick to hit it with? Hmmmm....

OMG - FOOTBALL!!!!!!!!

First off, a confession. I used to hold it as a source of pride and "better-than-you" esteem that I went to schools that did not have football programs. In fact, my two main criteria for choosing an undergrad program was that:

1. The school did not have a Greek system
2. The school did not have a football team.

See, I wasn't allowed to play football when I was a kid. Nor hockey for that matter. Both are sports I would have loved to have played, and currently love to watch. (Alright, hockey's not my favorite, especially not on television, but I like to see a good fight, just like the next guy.) And it wasn't that I wasn't friends with guys on the football team that made me not want to be around them. It's that I wasn't friends with all of them. Specifically, there was a specific sub-species of football player I did not approve of, did not like, and did care to associate myself with.

The meathead.

You know that guy. The guy who punched out the panels of your garage door because he showed up at your house for a party he wasn't invited to and you didn't let him in. The guy who punched your books out of your hands as he passed you through the halls. The guy who grabbed the ass of the girl you liked. The guy who reveled in belching. You know that guy. We all know that guy.

That guy.

So when in came time to pick schools, it was a no-brainer that I would not willingly put myself in an environment that shared space with them.

What's that? What that, you say? What about Carnegie Mellon's football team? (I went to CMU for grad school) Uhm, well...let me put it to you this way.

Dorks playing football.

Do you have the image? Ok, 'nuff said.

Look at that sea of orange. Isn't it magnificent?

Now, quite possibly one of the coolest things that Auburn has going for it, (that everyone can agree upon), is the football. Holy cow, I was impressed. I mean, wow, that's 83,000 people, for goodness sake. Just look at them all.

And that's only 1/2 half of the stadium, and the upper deck isn't even completely full. 

Here's another shot, from a different angle.

 I think that shows the rest of the stadium fairly well, right?

That's just a lot of people, a lot of orange, and a lot of people who previously spent a lot time hanging out in the parking lots, drinking, eating, and tailgating.

And that was part of the whole experience, too. The tailgating. The hanging out with friends, the throwing around of the football, the subtle barbecue one-up-mans-ship subtly playing itself out between RV's and campers (I've got something cooking here that will really impress you!)

But sometimes, the students take it a little too far. As in, holy cow, I don't think she's going to be able to keep herself up. Ladies and gentlemen, I present exhibit A.

Oh, dear Lord, not good. This one was not a happy camper. Eyes glazed, lolling about, teetering on her 2 guy friends who were clearly trying to keep her from being arrested from public drunkenness. Man, she was about 2 seconds from totally puking her guts out. Fun stuff!

Anyway, the wife and i had a great time, and we can't wait to go to our next game.

Dinner @ the President's House (funny story at the end, I promise!)

As new faculty, the wife gets invited to a bunch of "stuff". For example, we went out for dinner last Friday night with a couple of her colleagues, she gets free tickets to the university theatre productions, and she gets invited to the new faculty reception, hosted by the president of the university and his wife. So, as we were invited and never wanting to miss a party (or a free meal and booze), we put on our best and headed over.

The president's house is very nice (Apologies for the poor picture. It was the best I could find. It doesn't really give you a proper feel for the scale of it, nor the inside, which is very nicely decorated.), and is located in the heart of the campus. It has very nice gardens, and an air conditioned "Terrace - reception" area, comprised of a essentially a ballroom and an art gallery like space, half of which was "patio-ed". (God, what a horrible description. Anyway...)

We mingled with a few folks, eventually "settling" with new professors in the communications, history, and psychology departments. The conversation was good, considering all of has had just met and were feeling each other out, essentially. Dinner was a very nice, catered spread comprised of roasted chicken, pork, fried green tomatoes, and grilled asparagus, squash, etc. Dessert was banana pudding and peach cobbler with ice cream. Two words for both of those:

1. Yum -
2. EEE

During dinner, the president came to the table to sit and chat for a few minutes. He sat next to me, and we (as a table) talked bbq (he's partial to the mustard based sauces and the bbq you can find at Price's, although he does like the vinegar based if the meat is really high quality. He also doesn't like Dreamland bbq, which isn't surprising considering its a chain. He said students dig Mike & Ed's, while the locals like Byron's), and the lack of recognition sports other than football, golf and Nascar get in the Birmingham newspaper, (especially on game-days in the fall). A very nice, gracious man, who the wife described as her idea of what a Southern politician would be when we eventually come across one.

The story of the night had to be, though, when I was getting the peach cobbler from the dessert table. As I handed my plate over (already full of banana pudding (she gave me too much!)), I said something to the effect of, "Try to get some on, will ya?" The older, white woman looks at me and asks, "Where you from?"

"Connecticut"

"I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!," she screamed.

"Uh, ok."

"Are you, by chance, I-talian?", she asked.

"Wow. You're good. I am."

"I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!," she screamed again.

I asked, "I'm impressed. How could you tell?"

She replied, "Well, my sister-in-law married a man from up there, and he's I-talian, and you all look the same! You don't know him, do you? Last name is (unintelligible due to the Southern accent).... No?... You don't? Oh well...."

It was the first time I felt Asian or black.

"They all look the same!"

Got my riding group!

Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings, brought to you by the good people of East Alabama Cycling Club!

Wednesday nights start @ 5:30 and are usually around 25-30 miles of beautiful rolling hills around Auburn. We "roll" at about 18-20 mph, so its a nice 2 hr ride that isn't too stressful or hard. Given that I ride to the meeting place, it adds a few more miles, making the total (last night's, at least) to be 35 miles. This is about as much as I can do in one go before I have to eat something, so dinner is always welcome when I get home.

Saturday's ride begins at 7:30 am, breaks up into about 4 different groups (based on riding ability and length), and always ends in breakfast. (Yay!). This ride is much more social and significantly larger than the Wednesday night group, as well as accommodates riders of all abilities.

To be honest, this is my first real riding group. I didn't ride in a group in NYC because if you didn't have a high-end ride and weren't snooty, they didn't want anything to do with you. I didn't group ride in CT because I just didn't get my shit together. But I really like riding in a group. It gives you people to talk to, safety, and most importantly, people to draft. Everyone goes faster when riding in a group.

Also, I get to essentially "tour" my new area by riding around the neighborhoods. I've read before that riding one's bike around a new town is a great way to go sightseeing. And experiencing it for the first time here in Auburn, I can say their right.

I am digging the riding group and the people in it. Hope I can make some friends out of it.

Late night Mud-riding

I was thinking I really should have pictures for this post, but I don't think they would capture the thrill of barreling down a dirt road in the middle of the night. How do you express the joy of riding a roller coaster to someone through words or pictures? It somehow doesn't do the experience justice, and I certainly want to give the proper props to this.

It's late. It's the middle of the night. You're in Alabama, and there's several acres of woods with a"road" cleared out through them, leading to a pond in the middle. The road is the red clay of the South, not gravel or asphalt. Now, you've gone off-roading before, when you were growing up, living in Connecticut. But it somehow doesn't live up to what you think you are about to do, because, let's face it: You're a stranger in a strange country, and you've placed blind faith in a person you've just met because they told you to get in the truck and not to ask questions. You're going for a ride, and that's about all you know.

You drive down the road, and turn off, facing the "road" that goes straight into the woods. The driver puts the peddle to the metal and away you go, flying torwards trees before the wheel is turned and you're faced with another set, the headlights illuminating just what's directly in front of you and nothing else. You hit the clearing where the pond is, stop, pile out of the truck and look up at the moon, and all the stars, and listen to the silence, something you haven't heard in a long time because of the years you've spent living in New York City, or Bridgeport, CT, the drone of I-95 constantly in the background.

And it's here that you thank yourself for trusting people, for believing that people are inherently good, and that you've missed the woods, the stars, and the silence.

First Impressions

We've been here a week. So, I guess that qualifies me to provide first impressions. Here goes.

1. People are super friendly in the South. Everywhere we've gone we've been welcomed to Auburn profusely and continously. As a northeasterner, I find this slightly disturbing because I am expecting the catch. But there may not be one.
2. Auburn itself is a delightful, small college town. As such, all pretty much revolves around the university.
3. The university is gorgeous.
4. The sun is a lot stronger here than what I am used to. I also had a hard time catching my breath while working out. Indoors. Maybe it's because I haven't worked out in 2 weeks and my fitness level has dropped, but still, it's hot.
5. Working from home is a very civilized way to work. Except that I go stir-crazy by 3 pm and have a mini-freakout. I need to resolve this.
6. We are in the rural South. As it was put to me earlier this week, "Drive 20 miles outside of town, and you've traveled back in time 50 years." (Full disclosure, we have yet to do this.)
7. The bbq is "chipped", not shredded or pulled. And so far its been very good.
8. The produce, specifically, fruit, is 20 times better than up North
9. Did I mention it was hot? Yes, I believe I did.
10. Like Lincoln, NE., life revolves around football season.
11. I will not be eating chittlings (or chitterlings as they are referred to in other parts of the world).
12. I don't like my kitchen sink faucet. It's too high up and I splash water all over the place when using it. Very annoying.
13. The summer thunderstorms are really good. They remind me of my childhood.
14. We've found a working farm that runs a fall CSA. We've been there to pick blueberries which were ridiculously good. The lamb steaks were amazing as well. We shall be spending more of our $ there.
15. DSL is not awful. Is it the best? No, but I can upload and download at a reasonably fast speed. So, that's good. (I still prefer cable, though)
16. Satellite TV is a racket and I feel like I am getting raped. I was fine getting basic cable back in CT because I never watched TV.
17. On a related note, tv antenna bunny ears have not progressed well since I was a kid. Or we live in a tv signal vacuum because we tried and failed miserably.
18. Our house is pretty much perfect, kitchen faucet excepted. Side note: I will never not have central air again.

So, them's it. Back to work, and then back to organizing the house and putting away our stuff. Woo-Hoo!

Move story, Part 2

We got up pretty early to eat breakfast, clean up the room from the pets, and tried to hit the road before 8 to get through the nightmare traffic that is Atlanta, GA. And it all went reasonably according to plan. Before we hit it, I took Domino out for a walk where I ran into a very spry 83 y/o man walking his bichon frise. We had a nice chat, and he told me great things about the place we were going. Considering I hadn't visited Auburn yet, I was nervous. The man's easy going nature and good words made we feel a lot better about our future home.

We hit the road and enjoyed a nearly traffic free drive all the way to the outskirts of Atlanta where the road widened and traffic volume got heavy. We were never stopped dead in our tracks, nor were we slowed down all that much, but I stuck to 1 lane for the most part. Like most metro areas, Atlanta has highway signs giving up to date traffic info and travel times which was helpful because our original plan was straight down I-85 through the heart of Atlanta. The signs said heavy delays, so the beltway became our route.

On the southern side of Atlanta, we stopped for lunch and got ready for the final push. At lunch, we ended up speaking to another nice stranger who asked if I was a cyclist (I was wearing my Fat Cyclist t-shirt). He then went on to start telling us about the bike trail that goes from Atlanta all the way to Birmingham. In the back of my mind, I started planning a fall weekend cycling/camping getaway.

Back on the road, we cruised over the state line and arrived in our new home state. 30 miles more down the road and we hit Opelika (pronounced Opa-like-uh), Auburn's sister-town. Then we got off at our exit and Tina led the way through the center of town. It was something, let me tell you, driving a 26' truck through the center of town along the edge of the university until we hit Toomer's Corner, the exact center of town where a big orange paw print is painted on the intersection. A couple more turns onto the beltway of Auburn where I sub-division is located, down the access road, and into out new little neighborhood where we pulled up to our new house (pics soon).

The LL was (to my surprise) waiting for us, and in we walked to the place we (our family) would spending the next year of our lives.

Reactions & Stereotypes

I'd written previously that I wanted to write about a post about how people up here in the Northeast are reacting to us telling them we're moving to Auburn. This is that post.

There are essentially 3 steps to the reaction. And it usually goes like this.

1. Somehow I mention we are moving to Alabama. Their reaction? Surprise, bewilderment. Their eyes open wide. They are confused. I can tell they are thinking, "What on earth would you do that for?!", but they are too polite to actually say it.
2. This is followed by them saying something along the lines of "Wow. Talk about a culture shock!" or "That's going to be different!"
3. Followed by "Better get a pickup truck and a gun rack!"

Without fail, that is how the conversation opens.

It's followed by the person realizing I am not joking, that we are indeed moving, and the question: "Where is that?"

"It's 1.5 hrs southwest of Atlanta, right over the Georgia border. About 3.5 hrs from the coast."

"Oh, well....huh.....But, hey, at least its a college town, right? Won't be too bad!"

And they're right. It is a college town, and it won't be too bad. But that's not the point I want to make in this post. The point I want to make regards stereotypes, and how we all employ them, for good or ill.

I realize there are going to be class and race issues we will encounter when we move to Alabama. The wife and I are highly educated (she more so than I, considering she has a PhD, and I have my Masters), white (in the land of the civil rights era), and by relative standards, rich (we will make well above the median family income (look it up, yourself)). So, two out of the three of the above make us targets. Add these to the fact we're from Connecticut, and we really are "Damn Yankees" among the locals. Given we probably will not be there long term (I have no idea about this, by the way. I am just guessing), we've given no one in the community any reason to make a long term investment in us (relationship-wise, friendship-wise, etc.). Outside of the academic community, no one has any real reason to be friendly with us (although I suspect they will be, because the stereotype of people down south is that they're very friendly.)

We are outsiders from the start. We will be the subjects of the stereotypes Southerners hold for northerners.

Liberal, Lefty, Unpatriotic, Obama voting, America-hating, Socialists in waiting. Or, Wall-St. working, money-loving, god hating, consumerists devoted to all things fast (women, cocaine, take your pick, whatever). Or a combination of all of these things to form a conglomerate of New Englander, or New Yorker.

Yet, at the same time, when I have mentioned we are moving to Alabama, I can see the stereotypes we northerners hold for southerners pop up into the minds of the people I am speaking to. It's almost pavlovian in its instantaneous appearance. And I freely admit I did the same exact thing when the wife mentioned moving there as a possibility. The image of the slack-jawed yokel proudly waving his confederate flag from his big pick-up truck with the gun rack. Rednecks. White trash. Baby mommas smoking cigarettes acting out welfare queen fantasies.

But you know what? We have those here in Connecticut, too. So what makes us think we're so much better? What makes us feel the need to be so different? To elevate ourselves above others? I am not a sociologist, or a psychologist, for that matter. But this is the world we live in, so I suppose I must accept it, or at the very least make amends.

So, how to end this?

I realize we are all the same. We all employ stereotypes to help our brains deal with this world. The welfare queen is making fun of me right now as I speak. So I guess I will do my best to have an open mind when I arrive there, realizing that not everyone will like who we are, become friends with those who have an open mind like me, and make the best of our time there. It's an adventure, right?

Let's go.

Cell phone picture and texts test successful!

So, I've figured out how to post to the blog direct from the cell-phone.

The possibilities are endless. And scary.

For now, though, I gotta get back to work, but the following are a few of my ideas for future blog posts.

1. The initial reactions of people when told we are moving to Alabama
2. Things I'll miss about the NE
3. More things I am looking forward to when we move

That's it for now.

The Truck Packers

After receiving the estimates from the moving companies (see this link), it's official. We're doing the deed by ourselves.

So I wasted little time in booking the moving companies which will load the boxes and furniture into the truck here in CT, and then unload the truck down in Auburn.

For about $500, I save the wife and I a lot of heavy lifting.

$500 = totally worth it.

Next steps? Mapping the driving route, booking a pet-friendly hotel (the drive will take 2 days), collecting additional packing boxes, packing, forwarding mail, setting up utilities, canceling utilities here...etc.

We still have lots to do.

Things I am looking forward to

While I have enjoyed living in the Northeast, the particular corner of the country I call home currently is not my ideal cup of tea. And it's the people who live here that are fault for this, I think.

Case in point: Wife and I are grabbing a drink at an overpriced wine bar after I get off the train from work. Two  women are sitting at the end of the bar chatting. It's clear this is their first meeting alone without their husbands (hence their mission is to impress one another. And maybe intimidate one another as well). It's also clear these are horrible people as their conversation revolves around how great it is to live in a town that mandates properties to be no less than 2 acres big, how their husbands who work at Mackinzie make a shit-ton of $, and how they themselves would never dream of living outside the NY-CT area. I wanted to chuck my high-ball glass at their faces.

But that's not the point of this post. The point of this post is to list out some of the things I am looking forward to when I move. So here goes.

1. Awesome cycling. Auburn and that area of Alabama has great biking (both mountain and road). I am psyched about this.
2. College football - Auburn. SEC. Enough said
3. BBQ - self-explanatory
4. Central air - I hate summer humidity. Our house will have central air so I can sleep in comfort. Two words about that. HELL and YES.
5. A little extra $ in our pockets - Southern living = cheap living.

And there's plenty more which (when I am not on my lunch break) I'll write about. But until then, it's a start.

And yes, I do realize that when we move down South there will be people who will want to throw glasses at my face because I will inevitably be saying something stupid too loudly. But I'll take my shots, if only to leave this county.

Countdown to the Move: 43 days

First off, first post. I've tried to do this before, but without any real success. But then again, I've not had a huge move like this looming in front of me, one that will take me completely out of my element. This blog will keep friends and family up to date, I suppose

43 days: This is the amount of time I have to pack the house, the dog, the cats, and the wife into a rental moving truck and head on down to the Dirty South, a place I've never been to, never spent any time in.

I am going with an open mind, looking at it as an adventure, because, quite frankly, I don't think any other way would allow us to successfully transition. And besides, we're only there for 2 years at the most anyway. So we might as well get our adventure on.