Travel - and the Case of the Rather Curious Persimmon Tree.....

In a couple of weeks the wife and I will be going on vacation out of the country. It will be a Caribbean cruise, and I'm getting pretty excited. I haven't been able to travel much lately, and rarely out of the country. But to be honest, I'm also getting just a touch of anxiety.

Peace Bridge in Buffalo, NY.

Leaving the country, and even leaving my region, can make me uncomfortable for some reason. I like Canada. Outside of the metric system, it's pretty similar to America. But I always feel more relaxed when I'm on that bridge, back to America.

It's not just out of the U.S. either. Sometimes it's strange just traveling in the Southern states. Maybe it's the accent. Sometimes I need time to get my ear accustomed to their lingo. One time I was in a diner in Memphis , Tennessee. I had to ask a young waitress to repeat her question to me three times. Apparently she just wanted to know if I wanted any pie. She probably thought I was either deaf, or some crazy Yankee.

This is the ultimate movie for Southern eccentrics. 

Sometimes it's not the accent, it's just what they say. Another time my wife and I were in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. We were having our complimentary breakfast in the hotel when a southern group came and sat behind us. They were having a conversation, and probably enjoying their grits and cornbread. During their conversation, one of the older gentlemen stated that his neighbor had "a rather curious persimmon tree." Whaat?? Right then I knew I was no longer in Northeast Ohio. First, I don't think we have persimmon trees up here. Secondly, if we did, they sure as hell wouldn't be curious. Who talks like that?

I felt like I was transported back to the time of the Old South. If anybody has seen the movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, it was sorta like that. That movie was set in Savannah, Georgia. To say that movie had colorful and eccentric Southern characters would be an understatement.

With a British accent: "Is that your baby?"

In my cruise I will have to get used to Jamaican, British, and Mexican accents all in the span of one week. I'm looking forward to that. Who doesn't like a good Jamaican accent. If you can sing a Bob Marley or Jimmy Cliff song, you can probably understand Jamaican. British accents sound funny, but theyr'e no problem to understand. Mexican shouldn't be a problem either. I took 2 years of Spanish in school. Donde esta el bano? Tiene catarro? No problem.

I'm sure some communication problem will happen that will make me laugh. Even the cruise ship is staffed with a bunch of Europeans. But laughing is the key. It's a vacation so I'm not going to be uptight. But I will be on the lookout for persimmon trees.