I am feeling slightly better today although breathing is a little bit of a struggle. I have come down with a heavy head cold which is fast moving to my chest. I am not very well at all, so my writing will reflect that. Sorry in advance.
This morning we stopped at a 24 hour Walmart in Chattanooga before driving to Nashville. We figured we might have been taking our lives into our hands given that someone was shot and killed in a checkout line at another Chattanooga Walmart yesterday. How does this happen one may ask? Well that might be because everyone, who is everyone has some sort of weapon in Tennessee.
Whilst it is common knowledge that every redneck has a gun, I had never really stop to think about it. In Tennessee it is plain as the nose on your face though. Even at the local Walmart there is a gun counter, with shot guns lined up for sale. Seriously, it is bizarre when you can go to one place and buy your underwear, a carton of eggs, and a shotgun.
This morning we stopped at a 24 hour Walmart in Chattanooga before driving to Nashville. We figured we might have been taking our lives into our hands given that someone was shot and killed in a checkout line at another Chattanooga Walmart yesterday. How does this happen one may ask? Well that might be because everyone, who is everyone has some sort of weapon in Tennessee.
Whilst it is common knowledge that every redneck has a gun, I had never really stop to think about it. In Tennessee it is plain as the nose on your face though. Even at the local Walmart there is a gun counter, with shot guns lined up for sale. Seriously, it is bizarre when you can go to one place and buy your underwear, a carton of eggs, and a shotgun.
It is only a 2 hour drive from Chattanooga to Nashville. However I got so darned confused at the changes with time. Halfway through Tennessee there is a change in the time zone. You are driving down the road and all of a sudden the time zone drops back an hour. You don't cross any border for this to happen. But....to get to Nashville.....you also do a little bit of a loop out of Tennessee, into Georgia, back into Tennessee. And then.....if you are some sort of lunatic such as myself, who believes that to legitimately obtain a fridge magnet you must actually VISIT a state or city.....and insists on taking a detour into a state so that a fridge magnet can be purchased just to show you have been there (backward I know. You really need to be in my mind to get this....so just work with me)...so therefore popped into Alabama.....the time on my mobile phone and our GPS pretty much had a mind out. We went in and out of Tennessee more times than we have had hot dinners!
Tennessee does not get any prettier. It is brown and ugly. I seriously do not want to feel this way as apparently I have kin folk in these parts however there is little that I find endearing about it, with the exception of the southern drawl. My great, great grandfather was born here so I effectively have roots here! I find myself understanding most people in the USA (although most people cannot understand us) but the drawl that people have here prompts a "pardon" from me every time. Everyone is known as "Sugar" or "Darlin'" which was sort of cute on the first day, but has been irritating ever since although the Bear was called "Babe" yesterday which sort of tickled me.
Tennessee is also a state which promotes fire works and in a big way. Between guns, fire works and moonshine I feel that there would be a huge market here for artificial limbs. I vaguely remember fire cracker night when I was a little girl although that was a loooooooong time ago. The Bear said it was legal to have fireworks in Tasmania until about 1987 so he remembers setting them off a little better than I do. We decided to stop in at a fireworks shop (ok....warehouse) on the Tennessee/Alabama border. I would have LOVED to have bought some just to set them off. When we walked in, I was smashed back into about 1970. There was something that set off a very vivid memory although it was gone before I could figure out what it was. What an awesome step back in time though. I am tempted to ask whether we are able to just buy them and set them off outside the city limits. There doesn't appear to be any law that prevents you from doing so.
The whole way between Chattanooga and Nashville there are reminders of the fact that guns play a large part here. From about an hour out of Nashville, right through to the city limits, there is billboard after billboard promoting firearms. There are billboards reminding us that "silencers are NOT illegal" although I am damned if I can work out why this needs to be pointed out. I don't mean this is on a couple of billboards. I mean this is on EVERY billboard. I shall put some examples below.
I cannot quite figure this state out. The one thing I do know though, is that there are more places selling guns and fireworks than there are McDonalds. Now in this country THAT is saying something!
