Peanuts

It's peanut harvesting time in South Georgia.  That means it's time for boiled peanuts. Now, sometimes we Southerners have been known to tease those from elsewhere, telling them peanuts grow on trees.  Actually, you can see the peanuts grow on vines, and the nuts develop below ground.  The whole harvesting practice is mechanized for the main harvest, but for boiled peanuts, after the peanuts have been dug (really, the vines are just scooped up and flipped over), we grab a few vines, toss them on back of the truck, and come home to pull them off the vine.  Boil them in water with a lot of salt until they are soft.  I'm a purist - not interested in hot spiced boiled peanuts, or any other addition. 

The Georgia Peanut Commission (children's section) provides  information about peanuts. Here's another good write-up.  I wouldn't expect anyone to just take my word for it.

This is one of my brother's fields.  You can see he has dug a few rows, and further back the peanuts are not yet dug. You can see how two rows are dug and tossed together into one windrow. We are at one corner of a large field. 

He-eeey

Just a couple of weeks ago, an old friend reconnected with me via Facebook. We were 5th graders together, the only school year we shared, then we were penpals for several more years before we just sort of drifted into no letters. I am tickled to be back in touch, and we have had a lively week (before we both went on vacation) of messages back and forth, admiring pictures, comparing notes, just catching up.

Here we are as 5th-graders

In the course of this big-time correspondence with a fellow SW Georgia girl, I find myself greeting friends with a, "Hey!" In the portion of south Georgia I call home, "Hey" is more often heard than "Hi, " "Hello," or "Whazzup?" It's not a "Hey YOU!"; it's a hello. After a week with my wonderful Georgia-girl sis-in-law, the Southernism is compounded. So don't be surprised if you say Hi and I say Hey.

And to those who might tease, "Hay is for horses," I say "Nay," Hey is not hay, as neigh is not nay.