... the dirt in Lebanon PA..
Note that it is a reference to dirt and not "dirt". This isn't a post about gossip from where I consider to be my hometown (despite a recent dozen years in Chicago and an initial few years in cities in and around Lebanon until I landed there for fifth grade and onward, I consider it mine since I was born in the hospital in that town, so that's gotta count for something). Instead it is the actual subject of conversation at the local Ft. Lauderdale Lowe's from Sunday morning.
It's "stay"cation week for me, which has translated into completing a few projects around the house, necessitating a trip to the local home improvement store to claim a "thinking bench" for a newly landscaped nook at the end of the driveway and a bag of potting soil. Being overwhelmed by the choices (my thumbs are celadon at best, with satisfactory experiences with an amaryllis and a magic-seed party gimmick under my belt), I sought out an employee who sent me to the proper display. Then he commented, "I have some organic stuff that's been discontinued for just $2 if you'd rather have that." Being ignorant, I said, "If it's the same thing." To which he knowingly replied, "Dirt is dirt".
But then he thought about his declaration, and clarified it. "Well, not really. I'm from Pennsylvania, where the dirt is much different than down here." After sharing that I was also from the Keystone state, and knew what he meant, he asked me what part, and I said Lebanon. And guess what ... so was he -- from my hometown! He had family there, and had moved to Harrisburg with his landscaping business but found himself down in Ft. Lauderdale just this year after the Great Recession had squeezed him out of a livelihood.
After marveling at how small this big world was, we parted ways as only true Lebanon-ites would ... by my letting him know that he could find the best quality Lebanon Bologna at the local WinnDixie.
HAD TO CHECK A COLOR WHEEL FOR MY CELADON REFERENCE:
http://www.shadesofgreen.facts.co/shadesofgreencolornames.php
A PRIMER ON THE GREAT RECESSION FOR THE KIDDIES:
http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/what-was-the-great-recession-timeline-facts-causes-effects.html#lesson
PEOPLE IN FLORIDA ARE SERIOUS ABOUT THEIR BOLOGNA:
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-12-07/features/os-lost-1207-20111207_1_lebanon-bologna-publix-baloney
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