Even though I've lived in the woods and away from civilization for nine years, there are still a few things that I am not used to experiencing.
1. Waking to gun shots on Saturday morning. Now, if they are deer hunting that is not a big deal. They fire once, maybe twice and then it is over. But, this weekend the men went duck hunting and that is much more intense. When a flock of ducks flies over the water and all three hunters simultaneously fire, it sounds like war has broken out on the marsh. Not exactly my favorite way to start the weekend.
2. Towing Services - If someone gets their truck stuck in the mud, they do not call Acme Towing Co., or any other tow service. They call a friend, who uses their vehicle or a tractor to drag you free. No matter, I still carry a business card with a tow truck number on it.
3. Dust - When you drive on dry dirt roads you must travel less than 5mph in order to keep your car dust free. If you aren't concerned about dust on your truck, because Bubba damaged it while helping you with issue #2, then do not exceed 10mph, or your neighbors will hate you for creating dust on their porch and in their house, if the windows are open. I've seen some veins swell out on the face of a few retired gentlemen, when a driver ignored this speed limit. Since I tend to have a lead foot and am very anxious to get home, this has been a very difficult lesson for me to remember.
4. Pizza Delivery - There isn't any. My kids are convinced that this is child neglect. And when I am exhausted and frazzled from a long day of herding cats kids I think it is mother abuse.
5. Ice Cream - Eat it at the store or drink it when you get home.
6. Wild Animals - We see them, and my suburbia brain still hasn't come to expect it. I get as excited when I stumble upon an osprey perched in a tree, as if it were the first time.
A few years ago, pine beetles infested these trees and after burning the woods, in an effort to control the spread of disease, they started to rot and fall into the marsh. From this vantage point hawks and ospreys watch the tidal river below for fish, their primary prey. The beetles were a pest and I hated to see the pines die, but they made room for this magnificent bird.
And we have watched him sit here off and on, for two days.
Ah...this makes up for the dust, bubba's towing, no fast food deliver, and waking to World War III on Saturday morning.
