My Dearest Readers

This has been a most challenging period that had extreme heat, a near arrest, more hours in a car, some exotic food and a grand celebration. Whew.

First the heat. My goodness “help ma boab.” I confess I had no idea that it would be this hot. My tail feathers have wilted. I don’t read the fahrenheit scale well but I would guess it has been over 200 celsius. At least. I lay down in the charged cool air and understand fully why the colonies are air conditioned. No one would survive otherwise. And I am told, not sure it is possible, that it gets even hotter.

Second, the lad nearly got arrested for stealing beverages. Well, he ought to have anyway. We stopped at one of those ostensible food places that blot the landscape for a beverage. We sat down inside and drank the cool liquid and then, the lad, went and filled up his cup again with no pretense to actually pay for the drink. I was mortified and more than a little bit frightened as I have seen American TV and the police often shoot miscreants, though on reflection I never did see one gunned down for a beverage. Still a brazen theft that would make one reconsider one’s employment. Of course, I did feel better when the lass did the same, so, perhaps, they bought some esoteric level of cola usage. Yes, I will go with that.

Finally some food. We have eaten in many disparate places. A nice hotel, a barn, a wedding venue, restaurants and, thankfully, a bit here in Tennessee. The hotel was a delightful place that my employers thought very old. Smirk! It only went back to 1833. Good food both for dinner and breakfast. And lots of breakfast, all you could gather. Amazing. Then we ate in a great big barn like affair something called Bar-B-Que. This included a huge pile of shredded pork that you could sauce with any of 6, that is SIX, different bottles of sauce left right at your table. I was appalled at the indifferent way it was presented. No actual silverware, tin sort of plate, big table and yet, I liked it. Please do not report that to the Scottish Restaurant Board. But it was good, very good, nay, great. Maybe the USA is going to be okay. We also had some fine seafood and a delightful pasta. The well presented foods were served to us at 22 Queen and Zynadoa. I don’t understand the fascination of the locals with royalty - I thought they wanted rid of such attachments.

We also got to attend, the lad seemed to have a role in the production, a wedding. The customs were different but even so there was dancing (with odd costumed creatures) toasting, cake and delicious food. That, too, was a great time. Oh, I nearly forgot we also had wha they call a picnic up on hills that look a bit like home, the Blue Ridge, I believe. That was nice too.

So, to recap: Bar-B-Que = good, Weddings = good, nice restaurants = good, picnic = good, heat = not good.

If I survive and if the lad is not arrested, I will be back in two weeks with more food reporting in the meanwhile, I remain,

Your humble servant,

Respectfully submitted,

Miss Rowena Brambleglen

/August 9, 2025 by Dave Hileman