WHY?

Keeping it real as always:

After Katrina, we moved to the northwest corner (third county from Missouri) in the fall of 2016 based mostly on a $hitload of pre-purchase false representations by the guy we bought the place from. One big one was about the weather.

Those "very mild winters here" the first three years more resembled what I grew up with in Illinois' Quad Cities area cold-wise (-19 once) without as much snow. Billy, born and raised in south Louisiana, took delight in building his first snowman but the newness wore off pretty quickly. Every winter since has been varied, some colder and snowier than others (prompting him to add a 4WD beater to his collection), but Mother Nature hasn't once let us forgotten it's winter. We were iced in for eight days in 2014, and rebuilt a quarter of the shop after an F3 in April of 2011. Now we have a storm shelter too.

Wherever you elect to move in Tennessee, do lots of research first with Chambers of Commerce who all have local stats and area demographics. Metro areas pay better but have more crime. Lots of rural areas still have homes for sale under $40,000 -- truly!! -- but you'll have to fix things and will always do more driving because you usually have to give up 'conveniences' ... like grocery stores, doctors, hospitals, dentists, auto parts places, gyms, malls, fast food ... you know, "civilization."

We're only two miles north of town. "Town" is less than three blocks long, only on one side of the street, and quite a few of the storefronts are empty shells. Four police officers keep us safe. Greenfield's sole Claim To Fame was Wimpy's, a hamburger place downtown. It closed a few years ago but a new owner has been trying to restore it the last couple years. Apparently PSC has helped a bit too lol -- I ran into the guy who owns the thrift store while fueling up the Durango the other day. "Hey, one of my customers asked me if this is where that powder coating lady lives and I told him Yes!" It made me laugh ... and proud too, I admit it.

It's quiet, excitement is rare (oh look, Bob's painting his garage!), crime is relatively small and occasional, and thank God we can carry our weapons and use them. But it's hard to make friends because you're an Outsider (or in my case a Yankee which is even worse) ... and for a Big City Kid in heart of The Bible Belt (144 mostly Baptist churches in Weakley County alone), I'm just glad to be blessed with lots of work. After nearly 13 years, I still don't really like it here.