I agree that Ed does have a relatively distinct accent--Vermont? I don't know, perhaps a combination of the places he has lived and whatever he's picked up from Helga in the 30 years or so that they've been married (I question the validity of that Vermont accent heard in radio commercials, I have never heard a real person speak that way).
I have known Ed & Helga since they bought the land they now live on (The Colonel used to visit it periodically before retiring from the service...we were neighbors). A few years into retirement, I think Helga stopped referring to him as The Col. It took awhile, but Ed finally stopped treating everyone around him like military personnel--he had to give it up, because at backyard bonfires there was no respect for that BS anyway-poor Ed, surely a difficult transition from commanding many, to being commander of none!
He is around the same age as my dad and I've always thought of/treated him like family...I don't take any of his crap!
Helga, Ed, Bella have a safe trip home--hope this one was as good as the last two have been.