Barefoot in March

Today’s reason to live in Alabama: Start going barefoot in March, because Spring Break really is during Spring weather.

Over the next month, each school system and college system around me will be taking their week-long Spring Breaks. I don't know of anyone sitting in a restaurant nearby saying, "Okay, dude, ROAD TRIP! Let's go to New Jersey....." However, many folks north of here are either plotting to pass through Alabama on the way to Florida, or are plotting to stop in Alabama at beautiful Gulf Shores. Either way, our highways, hotels, and restaurants are going to be packed for the next month all over the state.

As they cross the state line and come further south, they will see lawns turning green, trees and shrubs budding out, and flowers everywhere (forsythia, dogwood, redbud, yoshino, quince, camellia, azalea, rose, hyacinth, daffodil, peony, and many, many others). They will swim in the Gulf of Mexico, while southerners will stand by and gawk, "What the hell is wrong with those people? That water is freezing!"

I love Spring in Alabama.

FROM THE MAILBAG: I received several replies from folks about the new blog, and I thought I'd answer several of the more frequently asked questions.

Q) It sure is a pain in the ass to leave a comment. Why did you ask us to do this?
A) I don't know why it is so hard to get the blog to accept your comments. I've never left a comment on anyone's blog before, so I don't know the procedure for setting things up. Several people have talked about Wordpress not working, and so forth, but I don't have an answer. Maybe Juggz or someone with much more tech-smarts than me could tell folks how to do it. Otherwise, I'm sorry it seems to be harder than I anticipated.

Q) Why didn't you name this blog "Sweet Home Alabama," like your old journal used to be called?
A) Consider it done.

Q) Weren't you a little harsh on Jamie in your first post?
A) That was certainly not my intention. Listverse belongs to Jamie, and it is his site. He runs it the way he prefers, and that suits me perfectly fine. If I disagree with some of his procedures, policies, or decisions, it doesn't mean that I advocate a change for the website, because it's his - not mine. I also don't visit Fark anymore, but it doesn't mean I think they should change their site to suit me. I just moved on. Same with Listverse. I loved AOL, TFP, Listverse, and everywhere else in between, and none of what transpired diminished my affection. I respect Jamie and all the massive amounts of hard work he put into his site and franchise. But I moved on.

Q) Is there a way we can be notified when you make a new post?
A) I don't know.

Q) Do you take requests?
A) Hell, yes! Last night's weight-loss post was directly due to a request by Kim.

Q) Who in the hell gave out the link to "Cubby?"
A) I'm still trying to track that one down...