One of the best parts of traveling is that you learn odd little facts and tidbits that you might never have known otherwise. Reading the Sunday Raleigh paper I learned about whimmy diddles for the first time.
Whimmy diddles in the western mountains of North Carolina are made from mountain laurel or rhododendron branches normally. You take two sticks or small branches, about the thickness of a pencil and cut notches about a half inch apart in one stick, attaching a small propeller carved from wood on one end using a nail. You take the other stick and pull or push it up or down the notched stick to make the propeller revolve.
Last weekend in Asheville they held the World Gee Haw Whimmy Diddle Championship. Gee and haw are terms for right and left respectively, originally used as commands for teams of horses or mules while plowing fields. Competitors are judged on how many "gees and haws" they can accomplish in 12 seconds and the prize for the winner is a Moon Pie. According to the article, there are youth, adult and professional divisions so apparently whimmy diddling is serious stuff in North Carolina.
Now see? You've learned something new today without leaving the comfort of your home or office. Yee haw, or rather Gee Haw!
1 comment:
Yup.. hard to believe I had never heard of a Whimmy Diddle.. especially if there is even a World Champion competition. :-)
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