Yokena

I called my mother this evening, not for one of our usual random conversations about the current social climate in Burnside, Mississippi, but to ask two important questions. When the first question popped up I really thought I would be silly to call and ask, but the second one seemed to justify it.

You see, Greg and I were driving from Port Gibson to Vicksburg (from fixing something blah blah at the hospital in Port Gibson to eat at Rowdy's in Vicksburg, and we can thank Marshall Ramsey for putting THAT idea in my head!). Along Hwy 61 are many landmarks and geographical wonders. One is Yokena. As we passed the sign for Yokena I started my usual game of trying to pronounce something utterly mysterious found on a road sign. Greg suggested it was pronounced like it sounds. I know better, this is Mississippi. Kosiusko, for example. Anyway, I knew I'd heard it pronounced before and was pretty sure it would have been by one of my parents, but as I said earlier, I figured it was a dumb thing to call them about.

Next, we passed LeTourneau. I commented that I'd known people who worked there all my life, but never really knew exactly where it was. Which led Greg to ask exactly what LeTourneau was. Umm. Well... It's some type of plant. I don't know! That was it, I called Mom.

I won't recite the conversation, although calling mom and asking her how to pronounce any small community is usually quite funny, but I will say that it's Yah-k-nee. Or, as Greg put it, just swap all the vowels around. And LeTourneau is a community, because the company doesn't make anything anymore, but back in the day the plant made drilling rigs, and earth moving equipment, and anything else made from steel that was welded. I should have been a welder. I told Greg that. I think he's still laughing at the idea.