Okay, there is this bird, see? A songbird with quite a repertoire of sound—I’m guessing it’s a mockingbird, because it has, I kid you not, about a million different trills that it spits out in constant rapid-fire. Oh, did I mention that it spits out its rapid-fire trills ALL NIGHT LONG? It must be the stupidest songbird in Oklahoma, because while other songbirds are sensibly sleeping, waiting for the dawn to break so they can begin to thrill humans with their cheeps and chirps, this moron is desperately trying to get someone—ANYONE—to pay attention to him. I’ve never heard another bird answer, but oh buddy! If I knew how to load the b-b gun, there’d be one less nocturnal pest in this world, I tell you what.
And then there is the nifty condition of our roads every time it rains. I have been driving up on two wheels for a week since our last set of storms.
And this is the COUNTY road, people. Let’s not even talk about my driveway. I anticipate the county fixing our road in . . . umm . . . er . . .
*Sigh. Forget it—we’ll be riding around in Jetson-type spaceships before they get our roads fixed. Which brings me to another fine point of country living—we can not, can not, can not get high speed internet. Not DSL, not cable, not squat. I am suffering under the tyranny of dial-up and I feel like a second-class citizen. Really, you have no idea—I have to tell people, “Don’t send me any files bigger than 1MB because my computer will take all night to open it.” Youtube? Fahgedaboutit. I am like a cave dweller, proudly putting my paint-dripping handprint on the wall of my cave while my sophisticated high-speed friends are fixing the smile on their Mona Lisas.
And we won’t even talk about my nearest neighbor who went to jail for making meth and then his house suspiciously burnt down the next day. Or the pack of dingo-like dogs that run around MyTown and wander up to my house, enticing my otherwise-good Corgi to run around with them. I keep telling her that those are the wrong kind of friends to have, but does she listen to me? Nooo. So she gets grounded to the screened-in porch all the time. Pfefh—teenagers.
Then there are the ticks. Spiders. Snakes. Bits of deer carcass that our dogs love to drag to our porch from the woods. Yes, I believe I could go on forever about what a pain it is to live in the country. But then I step out onto my balcony (in my underwear, because no one lives close to me) and I see this
and it all goes away.
The lilacs, the forsythias, the phlox are all blooming. Everything around me is beginning to take on the many shades of green of Spring. I listen, and all I can hear are my wind-chimes, moving with the breeze, and the calls of SANE birds. Soon my garden, which is big, will be planted and producing tomatoes and corn, peppers and berries.
Okay, it’s not so bad living out here, after all.
14 comments:
Oh WOW am I ever jealous. I'd give an arm, couple fingers, and lots of toes to live in the country again. Town life, not for me.I will tell my mom you said hello, she visits mine and your blog often. We should have a little get together sometime, me, you, your sweet momma, and the munchkins. We were talking just the other day about what fun we had that weekend we stayed at your mom and dad's house in Tulsa.
Name the day, baby.
Wow! I so hear ya. Not now, but THAT, exactly how you describe (with a few minor variations), was my life when my husband and I moved in together. That piece sounds like a couple of my journal entries around that time. I am so sympathetic to your plight.
I envy your balcony, the great view, and your privacy (now that Meth Man is gone). Otherwise, I'm quite content living in the Big City! I just can't picture Ozzy hangin' with the dingos. He can be a little hostile when it comes to ne'er-do-wells. He does seem to choose his friends carefully. I think he'd do really well in the local school system. Ah, my little angel....:)
Oh the roads are awful here too. And the ticks and spiders are just horrid. HORRIBLE. We have to check each other for ticks all spring and summer long.
I wish we were a little more secluded like you are. But alas, we have neighbors that can see us in our underwear.
WHENEVER!! I thought some weekend heading over to Eureka would be fun
I'll trade you sub-division yard natzi's, a years worth of home owner asso. dues AND DSL connection for the country ANY day!and we still have bad roads.
Ah man. I was already looking for a nice sensible city place for you in my neighborhood when you had to go and put in that last picture. Now Jamey's going to see this and start thinking acreage again. Bugs, snakes, and riding lawn mowers, OH MY! :)
Can't you get one of those satellite things for internet anywhere? No one should have to suffer dial up...
to commemorate your love of the country I think you should take another swing out in your undies. it should be annual tradition. tee hee.
that view is the definition of the word serene. i do love your view.
You sure make me laugh! I love ready your thoughts. I just found your sis' blog. She makes me laugh too! Thanks for putting a smile on my face today. I miss you guys!
Aw, gee, Jarrod--I miss you guys, too. How are Melissa and the fam doing?
Slush--I've heard horror stories about satillite internet--such that makes me afeared to try it. So I believe I will just whine.
Sara--Not a chance, my dear. My naked swinging days are O.V.E.R.
LOL you were making me even more paranoid about living in rural Okie as a Brit'....and then I got to the picture :-)
We just spent the evening on our patio until 10:45pm it was so warm and that makes it all worthwhile
Your writings are so entertaining. LOL, I know a little about your roads. We compared them to washboards. It is amusing to watch someone try to sleep sitting up while we pass thru your fine state though.
Post a Comment