Middle of Nowhere...

 

According to the Washington Post Glasgow, Montana is the official Middle of Nowhere in the United States.  Glasgow, population of around 75,000, is 4 ½ hours from any other major city.

Of course there is also a town in Oklahoma that is actually named Nowhere.  Imagine saying that you are from Nowhere.  It could develop into an entire “Who’s on first” thing.

When people say they are visiting or living in a city, it is often because where they really are is near a city that people have heard of and no one has ever heard of where they actually are, so they just say they are in the bigger city.   I personally never say I am from Erie.  I just say Northwest Pennsylvania .  One time when I was in Upper New York State near the Vermont border, I said that, and the person asked me the name of the town. When I responded Corry, they got the biggest smile. They were from Spartansburg  - about 6 miles away. It was nice  -- a moment of bonding over living in the:

middle of nowhere

backwoods

wilds

you can’t get there from here

boonies

boondocks

sticks

hicksville

Now here's the thing. There is a lot to be said for living relatively untouched by the outside world.  I mean – you know the world is there, but it ignores you and underestimates you.  It is a position of power actually. Think about that for a moment, and unless you are one of those who thinks that bigger is always better or one of those who thinks you are too good to live in any one of the above list of places, you will get it.

One further point – sort of related…   It occurs to me suddenly out of the blue ... that the town of Northeast, Pennsylvania is actually in Northwest Pennsylvania.  Now I am wondering why Northeast is called Northeast.  Hmmm…  One has the time to think about things like that when they live in the middle of nowhere.   

Second further point -- you can get here from there. My small city in Northwest Pennsylvania is almost smack dab in the middle of where they say "it" is happening.  My small city is sort of equidistant from three cities people have heard of --  Cleveland is "Westish", Pittsburgh is "Southish", and Buffalo is "Northish". Personally I prefer in the middle of nowhere. No offense intended to all you city slickers or city slicker want-to-bes out there. 

It has been said more than once, actually, that "Some call it the middle of nowhere. We call it the center of everything."  I even saw that on a poster somewhere.  I think it was an America Crop Producer poster.  Where would you be without them? Grocery stores don't produce food, it comes from places listed above.

One last thing.... Just curious....  Is anyone besides me asking what happened to all the homeless people in San Francisco who where moved for the visit of Xi Jinping et al.  Did they disappear? Were they allowed to take their tents with them?  Were they rehomed under a highway overpass?  Will they come back once the VIP's are gone?  They don't seem to be in the Middle of Nowhere.   Asking for a friend.

 

 

Hurkle - durkle

 It's Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.  For those of you who have your Christmas shopping done or who would rather not brave the shopping frensy of the day, this is my advice:

                        Hurkle - durkle

Now thinking that perhaps this term is new to some as it was to me...

"Hurkle-durkle is a 200 year-old Scottish term meaning to lounge in bed long after it is time to get up.  Happiness is hurkle-durkling."

Source you ask?  This info came from a meme of im not right in the head.com sent to me by a dear friend whose name will remain a secret as she said she learned it from her crazy cousin.  She knows I love new words and she likes anonymity in general and probably especially in his case since she called her cousin crazy.

Anyway -- I think that after days of preparation for a feast, hurkle-durkling is just what the doctor ordered. I wrote this two days before Thanksgiving, so that I could hurkle-durkle properly on this the day after.   

Gobble... Gobble....

With some modifications, this is my Thanksgiving To-Do list from last year.  Some things are helpful to repeat, and ... it's a busy week. 

Happy Thanksgiving!  So much for which to be thankful.  

                    Feast Preparation To Do List

All pans and casserole dishes at the ready   ✔

Large Platter, good cutting board and carving set located ✔

Great Grandma’s little side fruit bowls washed and dried ✔

All ingredients for everything on the counters ✔

Turkey ready to go into the oven ✔

Peanut Butter ice cream pie made and tightly covered in the freezer ✔

Stuffing ready put together and into muffin pans for “stuffin' muffins" ✔

Green bean casserole all set ✔

Grandma Betty’s fruit salad just needs whipped cream ✔

Cheesy potato/bacon casserole ready to pop into oven ✔

Mashed potatoes set to microwave ✔

Table set ✔

Note written to remember the cranberry sauce this year ✔

House about to smell wonderful ✔

Local family about to arrive ✔

Smile on my face – again -- so much for which to be thankful ✔

Beware of the Phubber

I learned a new word today, so... of course I had to share it.  Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while, know that I am compelled to share new stuff about language... especially if the word has developed recently and strikes me as a perfect descriptor of our world, although I do love old, even antiquated, words as well -- if they are fun to say out loud.

It appears that this word appeared between 2010 and 2015 as a result of an experiment of sorts. Picture this.  A bunch of lexicographers, authors and poets got together to make a new word that is a combination of phone and snub. Now exactly why they set about to do this, I have no idea.  Perhaps it was because a new word was necessary to describe a relatively new, (annoying) phenomenon.  I do love the result of their work.

Picture sitting at the dinner table with a group of adults -- some of whom are on their phones ignoring the rest of the people there, or call to mind trying to talk to a grandchild while they are thumb texting.  The situations are endless and I know that you have been there.  We all have... and we know how it feels. Right?

The word?  

                    PHUB 

                                                [fuhb] verb

I think it's perfect.  

Definition: to ignore a person or one's surroundings when in a social situation by busying oneself with a phone or other mobile device.

Personally I find phubbing disturbing. Look around.  It's everywhere.  I am especially flummoxed by the situation where a person is phubbing while walking in the street.  Stupidity at its best.  Ah -- Flummoxed by Phubbing.  Say that five times real fast.

Best Gift Ever

The Holidays are almost upon us.  Time to get into gear folks.  Let the fun begin.  Halloween, thankfully, is over.  Next -- Thanksgiving... my favorite holiday of the year. I think the aroma of all the favorite foods gives this holiday the edge. Then the Christmas season slams in during which the spirit of giving prevails. I love the gentleness and good will of the Christmas season. I ignore all the stressful parts of both holidays as much as possible. I am pretty good at doing that...lots of practice at my age.

Now some are not excited about the holiday season and I do feel bad for them. They grumble-grumble and snarl about commercialization, decorating too early, etc.  I'm okay; you're okay.  I just do not let the negative ooze its way onto my turf. I think it is all about attitude and making a decision to let some things slide, put other things on the shelf to be considered later, and just get into the holiday mode... sometimes maybe easier said than done, but important nevertheless. Holiday seasons are like vacations from the bad stuff... or they should be.

Don't think I am crazy ... I love preparation for Thanksgiving.  I spread it out over several days.  There is the list making, the inventory of the pantry, the laying out of pans and in time -- a home that smells so wonderful for a few days in a row that the atmosphere is simply beyond welcoming.  Then there is the gathering itself.   Blessings abound.  I love it all. So much for which to be thankful.

Then before you can turn around twice, there is the Christmas holiday for which I have been mentally preparing since the last one.  Personally I start decorating for Christmas when the dishwasher is running at the end of day on Thanksgiving and ... I start using the special Christmas dishes the day after. (They get put away on New Year's day.)  I like to think of Christmas as a time of giving... a time when maybe people are a little kinder, gentler, etc.  Please don't burst my bubble.  The only glitch is that I have trouble thinking of what to give and no one seems to want to help me decide, and I love to give gifts.  I figure if that is my only problem, I am fortunate indeed.  As for me and gift ideas --there is this "thing" that cleans shower walls and a superb kite that I have been looking at ... but really...  I just want time with my wonderful family... always the best gift ever.  Whenever we can get together, no matter what the exact day -- huge gift. Yep -- best gift ever.