One Year In Tennessee - 20 Observations (Oak Ridge, Morristown: apartment, insurance, appliances)

[leavingcali]

LOL! The pics of the chunky birds are hilarious! They must be really happy and comfortable there in TN. The birds here in CA are much thinner.

Man, that's funny!

[alleycat]

Originally Posted by LauraC

You guys think I'm kidding about the big birds but I just looked through some of my photo folders. Some of these aren't the best quality photos but look at the size of these birds and tell me they aren't huge for the little guys they are ---

They're just puffing out their chests because they're proud to be Tennessee birds.

[Suzanne1945]

What a refreshing post with personally positive comments! I can't wait until we make TN our permanent home. Just a matter of time with a little patience along the way. When reading, your descriptions make us feel like we a living the life you so eloquently describe.

[Pam& Bill]

Allycat,
You are a hoot.
Pam

[goodbyehollywood]

OK, somebody needs to get to the bottom of this fat birds issue.

I'm concerned, because I've had two birds fly into my office window yesterday and today. The birds were, thankfully, not hurt, and now I understand why. They are thicker than my glass.

Great post, LauraC. Rep to you!

[JMT]

Holy cow, those birds are awesome!!!! I love the pictures. I never really noticed that Tennessee birds are so chunky, but geez those birds really do look like porkers, don't they? Linebackers at U.T. are treated like gods around here, and it looks like the birds are taking notice.

[goodbyehollywood]

Everybody better keep an eye out for LauraC at the next picnic. Her camera catches some very unflattering angles.

The backside shot of that TN orange bird has pretty much made me decide to toss that Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey sitting in my freezer.

[Beretta]

Originally Posted by leavingcali

LOL! The pics of the chunky birds are hilarious! They must be really happy and comfortable there in TN. The birds here in CA are much thinner.

Man, that's funny!

The birds in California are much thinner, but you have some amazing robin redbreasts out there that look quite, um, quite puffy!

http://z.about.com/d/animals/1/0/i/N...2881XSmall.jpg

[jabogitlu]

Originally Posted by JEANNE61

I AGREE . . only been there twice ..( to adamsville . tenn) where i'll be moving in about 3 mths . . from wpb fla .
one thing i resent .. the constant comments about those 'foreigners ' from 'up north' or fla. .

we're not that bad . . after all , we wouldnt have CHOSEN your state to live in (t he rest of our lives) if we didnt 'see something good in it ..

sure its gonna be a 'transition .' as any move would be . esp from city to country . .but again . that's why we CHOSe it ..
we dont want to change you . .we want to change OUR lives. .NOT YOURS ...

why not just accept that possiblility . and leave the 'foreigner' comments out of it ..
we're just like you. . just havent' been in the country mode for many yrs ..

i'm just hoping . .once they hear my (former ) NY accent . . i dont' get this kind of guff from the locals .. . i certainly dont intend to offend anybody in my new 'hood' . .

thanks for listening . . jeanne

First off, you'll have to leave that kind of attitude at the border. I'm sure no malice was intended in the word choice. It's all in the spirit of fun.

Originally Posted by HengyMama

Observation:
I for one, am not a skinny minny and I feel more at home with the people in TN but I wonder if it is the food or culture or lack of facilities. Maybe people are just more laid back? What ever it is, I know I will fit in perfectly. It will be nice not to have to compete with the "size 2" bikini clad hussies who look like they could use a cookie and be with "average" size people for once in my life.

Yeah, there are some people that really are obsessed with physical beauty, but for the most part personality is placed way over physicality when it comes to relationships (of various kinds).

I tend to try to remain a good weight (165 @ 6'0" at the moment), but that's for health reasons, not vanity.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

Yeah, there are some people that really are obsessed with physical beauty, but for the most part personality is placed way over physicality when it comes to relationships (of various kinds).

I tend to try to remain a good weight (165 @ 6'0" at the moment), but that's for health reasons, not vanity.

I've found that people here in East Tennessee tend to be less pretentious than in other parts of the country. I mean, when I lived in Atlanta it seemed like everyone belonged to a fashionable gym and made sure they were dressed in only the finest exercise attire. I haven't noticed that in Knoxville.

On the other hand, jabogitlu, I would love to have stats like yours!!!