When John heard a truck on the road behind us, he scooped the cat up in his arms. We recently found out that neighbor Warren owns this cat that walks with us most mornings. The truck pulled up to us, window open, and Warren himself said with surprise, “She lets ya pick her up?”
To me, Warren sounds like he grew up in North Carolina, probably in the Western part. His accent is softly Southern, not as pronounced as mine, and certainly not deeply drawled like that of Mississippi.
John said, “She jumps right in front of cars, so I try to catch her before that happens.”
Before I could forget again, I asked, “What is the cat’s name?”
Warren replied, “Mah daughtah calls her Blake.”
“What do you call her?”
“Cyat.”
Warren continued, “She’s a workin’ animal. I don’t name her, an’ I don’t let her in the house. It took 20 years for my wife to persuade me to let the dog in. As long as I’m alive, that cat idn’t comin’ in, even if I live to be a hundred. Yeah, that cat is a daredevil. We pull in the drive, an’ she jumps in front of our car. T’other day I made sure she wadn’t in the back of the truck. By the time I got in and started up, she was there. Car comin’. I’ll finish tomorrah.”
With a quick wave, he was off. This may be continued, and it may not if we don’t see him again soon.
Mehrling Muse 
Good thing a cat’s got nine lives …
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So are you quite ‘Gone with the wind’ accent wise or would that be Warren?
xxx Massive Hugs xxx
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My accent is much less than that of Scarlet O’Hara, and Warren has less of a drawl than I do. The ends of Warren’s words are not as distinct as John’s, who has a New York accent.
xxx slow-talking hugs xxx
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My girlfriend has a deep southern drawl , she said somethin’ got rurnt once and my husband asked what that was. I looked at him incredulously and he said, “Well, did you understand her?” She and I took a full two or three minutes laughing before we translated. I get almost as bad when I’m around her, it’s fairly contagious. First time he went to trade day, first year we were there, he came back shaking his head saying he “didn’t understand a word “they” said and what’s worse, they didn’t understand me either.”
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I have one friend with a Mississippi syrup-drawl, and I love to listen to her talk. I can understand her, but I do have to have a translation once in a while for people who grew up in the mountains. I’m speaking of town people, not mountain folk. Real mountain talk is unintelligible to me. Because we lived in NY for 50 years, New Yorkers sound like home to me. I would need help with someone with a strong Brooklyn accent. Isn’t it fun to listen to people’s accents?
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It is. I didn’t grow up in Alabama but my dad was from there and I spent summers there. As a flight attendant I once had a linguist on board and challenged him to guess where I was from. I figures with my somewhat Hispanic looks, he’d never guess, but he did all the way down to the city. Can you imagine having that ability?
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That is amazing! I wish I could do that! I’m lucky to get it in the right quadrant of the country.
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Anne,
It sure is. They tell us a lot about where people come from. For my own native language, there are dialects and words that are differently used in different parts of the state and it is my hobby to try and find out where people are from from their accents/drawls.
Susie
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That is a fun hobby, isn’t it?
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Before you know it, you’ll be talking like that!
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My accent doesn’t change. It came through unscathed after 50 years in New York and 2 years in England. My West Tennessee accent is undimmed.
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Heheh… I think my feisty Annie would jump in front of cards too, if I let her out. (Hard to do that since I’m on the 14th floor of my building. 😀
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Cat appeared on the road this morning as I strolled with neighbor Marla and her dog. Marla spotted her long before I did, but Albert probably helped her by staring intently. Cat was more aggressive than Albert, but she kept her distance. I petted her most of the way home. Is Annie a daredevil? What has she done lately?
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Put it this way: I can’t get her into her carrier to go to the vet, when her nails need clipping. (She will NOT let me do it.) So the vet tech comes to us in a house visit. She had us go after her in every room before we were able to capture her (vet got a soft lil blanket over her and got her out from under my desk)… She *growled* throughout the whole procedure. I’m talking about just trimming her nails (I should say TALONS)! Argh… She doesn’t even like being picked up and held, ever. On the other hand, Annie will sleep on my lap for hours, if I let her! Lol.
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She has plenty of Independence!
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Oops – in front of CARS. Argh…
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I loved this and the way you portrayed the beautiful Southern accent. Reminded me of my friend, Roy–from Alabama. He has a sharp twang with unique sayings that kept us very entertained. I’m just glad the cat is still alive!
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This morning the cat’s owner had to stop because the cat was in the middle of the road. Her husband had told us the cat was not afraid of cars, and she said the same thing.
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