Ewww...what's that smell!?

FRESH HOT POSSUM, my friends, THAT'S what!

Of course, seeing as how I am still up to my ample backside in alligators, today's portions of rich, moist marsupial maunderings will be in decidedly gourmet-sized. (Although they will be presented beautifully with a small raspberry liqueur squiggle across the plate and a sprig of lemon grass.)

Yesterday was a bear, and as I mentioned it included having to call and talk to some of my counterparts in other parts of the country, which meant that I had to put on my polite, professional, uninflected, Midwest/Yankee telephone voice.

I think I strained a jaw muscle--how do you Yankees talk like that for so long?!

I had to get out my big box of hard Gs--"going" and "doing" instead of "goin' " and "doin' "--had to leave out "fixin' to" and "hose pipe" and "butt whuppin' " altogether, had to talk like a 33 1/3 record on 45, had to say "y'guys" instead of "y'all". Sheer torture. What made it worse is one of the folks was in Norfolk, VIRGINIA! You'd figure if I could talk normal anywhere, it would be to someone in the cradle of the Confederacy! Nah, not even him. Luckily, I am bilingual, and though not completely fluent in Yankeese, I am able to pass well enough to not be mistaken for Foghorn Leghorn. Or Karl. Even if'n I do like them french fried taters. mmmmhm.

Speaking of our Northern Brethren, Possumblog's Gopher State Correspondent Toni Albani sent me a very nice e-mail (dutifully copied and sent via Morse Code by Chet the E-Mail Boy) detailing her recent trip below the Sweet Tea Line to The Home of Country Music:

What a great time - tornados, buckets of rain and flash floods. Bet they won't be asking me back for awhile. I actually had great time and loved the area. It was my first trip to TN. Looked at scenery, did a little history touring in between the really heavy rain showers and looked at homes and properties. Whew - a buck buys alot of home in Nashville compared to the Twin Cities. Amazing what smart growth planning does to property prices.

Nashville really is a very pretty town, even in the middle of a monsoon. And home prices really are pretty reasonable, which is fine for all of you folks who advocate that people should actually be allowed to have private property instead of living in a nice, smart, government-run silo. Drives the Enlightened Ones crazy, though. Carry on!

Miss Toni said she was prompted to check in with the Editorial Office by the fact that she passed through the lovely village of Oglesby, Illinois. (You know, it's the closest city to Starved Rock and Mattheisen State Parks!):

Thought of you when I saw the water tower from the highway. Then I also remembered I graduated from high school with a guy with the last name of Oglesby.

Well, it's confession time--I painted my own name on the water tower as a prank. In actuality, Oglesby, Illinois' real name is Esby, but it was cheaper for them to just change the name and do a website than it was to hire a contractor to repaint the water tower. Sorry about that.

As for the guy with whom Toni graduated from high school, I figure at some point down the line, we're more than likely related. Unless he was a real jerk or something, in which case the connection is probably much closer.

ANYWAY, back at it--will bring your next course to the table in just a while. As you know, high quality takes time and careful preparation.

DISCLAIMER: No warranty is expressed or implied that future servings of Possumblog will be high quality, nor that they will show any evidence of time well spent or careful preparation.
posted by Terry at 9:12:00 AM