Random Musings of a Displaced City Chick

You may be thinking, what are you talkin’ about woman? Let me explain. I don’t claim to be well traveled, or worldly (gasp!) but I have now lived in two places in the mid-west and let me tell you, semantics and location do make a difference. We are about to discuss some linguistic observations that I have made. Maybe I should have been a sociologist (I love to people watch and then rehash my observations) or maybe I’m just a bit odd (I know I am and I am good with it) but some of the phrases that are used in South Dakota are just too funny not to share.

***disclaimer: in my family if we don’t tease you, that means we don’t like you – therefore this really just shows my true affection for all things SD so don’t get all bent out of shape

Let’s start by discussing the first time I was invited to a potluck in SD. I was excited to be extended a truly mid-western invitation to share one of my best dishes with others, I felt I was really being “accepted” into this little small town I have come to love. “What can I bring?”, I asked with utmost enthusiasm. “A salad would be great!”, is the reply. I hang up the phone and start to make my grocery list for this amazing spinach, strawberry and walnut salad with raspberry vinaigrette that everyone back in Illinois raved about. Potluck day comes and I proudly set my salad down on the sprawling buffet and everyone looks at me as though I have clearly missed the mark. You see, salad in SD has nothing to do with greens, lettuce, vinegar or oil and has EVERYTHING to do with mayo or cool whip. Salad here is: jello salad, macaroni salad, pasta salad, potato salad, egg salad, ham salad, and the list goes on. Clearly salad isn’t as straight forward as I thought (LOL).

Truck vs. Pickup- in a city anything that is bigger than a 4 door sedan and possibly could fall in the SUV category is called a truck. A semi truck and trailer is called a semi. Not the case here in SD. A truck is a semi, a pickup has a bed, and every other vehicle is called by its model and or make. I drive a suburban, there are a lot of Buicks in town, most farmers drive pickups and if you mix these words up everyone is very confused.

Speaking of trucks…. maybe it is the teacher in me or that my Grandpa Gene was a linguist, but the fact that people just willy nilly leave out articles in a sentence drives me mildly insane. For example, I could ask, “What do you do for a living?” ” I drive truck”, a lovely man replies. I tilt my head to one side and think to myself. You drive THE truck? You drive A truck? What does it mean to just “Drive truck”?

Why we are talking grammar I would like to discuss the conjugation of the verb GO.

I go to the store today.

I went to the store yesterday.

I have gone to the store before.

I will go tomorrow.

Okay, grammatical rant over.

Now back to the food. One time some friends said we were having BBQ for supper. Great, I love me some pulled pork or other BBQ items. I was very excited. I belly up to serve myself to find ground beef in a tomato based sauce. This, my friends, is not BBQ, this is a Sloppy Joe. As I announced this, very loudly, people met my Sloppy Joe talk with guffaws. The same goes for hot dish and casserole. Where I grew up it is a casserole here it is hot dish (notice not A hot dish or THE hot dish, just hot dish).

I was asked to go to a baseball game one of my first summers here. I said yes with great anticipation of eating a delicious pork chop sandwich at the game. I get to the game and go immediatey to the concession stand and read the menu, no pork chop sandwiches to be found only Sloppy Joes that are for some reason listed as BBQ on the menu. I ask my mother-in-law if they serve pork chop sandwiches and she said she had never heard of such a thing. I google the origin of the pork chop sandwich and find it to be Chicago. Every time I am back in Illinois I seek out some pork. For those wondering it is a butterfly pork chop on a bun seasoned with season salt and topped with onions and pickles after being grilled to perfection. My mouth is watering even as I type and most often at any sporting event this is on the menu

Finally, one winter I was on the phone with my mom and I told her “I have to go scoop the snow.”

“You have to do what?!?” she asks appalled

“I have to go scoop the snow mom.”

“No, Kelly, you shovel snow and you scoop poop”

No mom here in SD you shovel grain out of a grain bin and you scoop snow. How about you? Do you scoop or shovel?

I hope this made you giggle like it does me and if you have any other sayings I missed please share them in the comments.

Here are 10 things that I have learned 6 months in to 2020:

1. Things DO NOT go as planned (You are probably thinking “no $&it Sherlock”) – clearly this year did not go as any of us would have predicted, but with the crazy comes opportunity. I have always been accused of wearing rose colored glasses and I find it better to look for the silver lining. What silver do you see?
2. Exercise and my morning routine are my saving grace-I’m not athletic, I don’t sport, I have jazz hands. That being said, getting up early to exercise for 30-35 minutes helps my mood, my patience, and my mental and physical health. After I workout I like to do my favorite yoga pose, it is called corpse pose (you should look it up, it is great), and just be still. Some days I lie there in silence, others I say a Rosary, write in my prayer journal or read my bible. I live for those 10-15 minutes. Do you find time for movement and stillness in your day?
3. Uncertain times help me to prioritize and realize what is most important- I literally sat and wrote down all the activities and obligations that I had prior to the shutdown and decided which of them I would like to continue and which of them I need to move on from. It felt great to realize I don’t need to be so busy and would rather focus on doing what is most important to me and to do it to the best of my ability. What are your top priorities?
4. When the world falls apart there is no shame in revising my goals and vision for 2020- I met with a friend the other day for coffee and she challenged me to think about my goals for 2020 and revise them since the world has been turned on its head. We sipped our mochas and discussed that instead of making our goals for the year smaller we would do the opposite and go for broke, if we fail GREAT at least we tried. Our goals included things like learning new skills and doing something that scares us each week. Which brings me to #5
5. Fear is both paralyzing and a total LIAR- I refuse to listen to the dark voices of fear and live my life or make decisions based on fear. I love the song “Fear Is a Liar” by Zach Williams The refrain says, “Fear, he is a liar/he will take your breath/stop you in your steps/fear, he is a liar/he will rob your rest/steal your happiness/cast your fear in the fire/’cause fear he is a liar.” I can’t help how I feel, but I can help how I react to my feelings. Push fear away and I ask you, what are your goals and vision for 2020?
6. Relationships matter and should be my focus- being away from people has been hard and has made me realize how much more time and effort I need to spend on my relationships. I am horrible at remembering birthdays, anniversaries etc. I’m the girl who remembers the day after your birthday not the day of and I never send a card on time. This needs to improve, because I know that my friends and family are the most important part of my life. How are your relationships?
7. I am meant to be WITH my people- I will make a greater effort to BE with people. Often times money and time get in the way, but I can’t take any of those things with me and I don’t want to regret not spending time with those I love. Do you miss being WITH others?
8. I know what I can live without- I have realized the things I don’t need and that a simple slower paced life is good with me. Are there things you are surprised you can live without?
9. Acts of kindness big and small matter- little things matter. A note, a compliment to a stranger, holding open a door, making a phone call, etc. MATTER. I am working to do more of this myself and with my kiddos. Have there been any acts of kindness during this time that surprised you?
10. If I want to change anything, I should start within myself and my home. My favorite quote from Mother Theresa says, “If you want to change the world, go home and love your family!” I could not agree more. Believe me I have gone psycho on my kids and family 5,476 times during all this together time, but I know at the end of the day that if I serve them and love them during the day I have fulfilled my purpose as their wife and mother. Too often the outside world uses words like “global impact” and “influencer” and tells us that we were “made for greater things” and I have found myself comparing with others and feeling bogged down by the magnitude of all of that BIG talk, but…what if I were made to be exactly where I am, doing exactly what I am doing. Trying my best every day to love those around me. I believe it is in the daily, often mundane tasks of life that I can do my biggest work and so can you!

I would challenge you to reflect and jot down 10 things you learned in these past 6 months!

All my love,

Kelly

So…… we got chickens. 6 to be exact and I LOVE them! My hubby built an awesome chicken tractor, from plans he got online, that we can move around the yard so they can be kind of free range with little risk of getting eaten by the hawks and eagles. It’s pretty great (and so is he if you ask me)!

The kids and I decided to name said chickens and this, my friends, is why I am really writing. Did you know chickens have very distinct personalities? Yea, seriously. No joke. The kiddos each named one chicken and I named 3- unfair you say- well I’m the biggest hen in the house, therefore I am at the top of the pecking order. Let me tell you about our ladies….

Ferdinand- she is the largest and is solid black and was named by Nick. She is a gentle giant. She is quiet and just goes about life without a care in the world. The only time she is vocal is when we bring her treats and they run out, then she will stand by the door and squawk.

Patrious- Maggie named her and no one, not even Maggie, knows where the name came from. Patrious is beautiful and totally passive aggressive. She struts around the coop and only pecks at a passerby when she thinks no one else is looking.

Leah- named by Laura, is a total rip (South Dakota term for b#%$^), to put it nicely, she is a pot stirrer and pecks at everyone, but will defend her fellow chicken friends if any other chicken pecks at them.

Laverne and Shirley- I named these two because they are hard to tell apart and are thick as thieves. They are always together, the best egg layers, and they rule the roost. Leah is most often pecking at these two when they pick on June. Oh, June let me tell you about June.

I named June. She is the smallest in size and the biggest spaz you will ever see. She literally runs laps around the coop and scampers all over like a chicken with her head cut off (maybe that is not the best metaphor, but I digress) Her feathers are usually ruffled and out of place and her neck is always stretched up while she runs around checking to see what everyone is doing until seeking high ground.

If you haven’t noticed somehow these crazy chickens have taken on the personalities of those that named them and it makes us laugh. The chickens are happy, mama is happy and the eggs are to die for!

Do you dance party? When I say dance party I mean a completely spontaneous, all out, shake what your mama gave you sing and shimmy fest!!! I grew up dancing with my immediate family, Uncle Dave and Aunt Deb, and my moms side of the fam. I carried the tradition over to my classroom and thankfully my cohorts, like Amber and Kara, always join in the crazy I bring. The music can range from show tunes to the great James Brown! Nothing gives me more joy than the random, out of nowhere, dance party!

This morning waffles were cooking and it just happened- I turned on the great Tina Turner grabbed my trusty wooden spoon microphone (a hairbrush works nicely as well) and started to do my thang (get it girl). Now, if you decide to start this ridiculousness don’t be discouraged when your gyrations are met by eye rolls, disapproving stares and gaping mouths. If you stick with your moves long enough the energy is contagious and inevitably the people will join you! The girls did all of the above but, before I knew it, they were stealing my microphone. If you don’t dance party- you should ! It may just make you smile!