Ok, it wasn't a tornado, but it was quite a whirlwind from selling my house to moving out, less than 3 weeks to be exact! We moved my furniture here the July 4th weekend and I'm still sorting thru boxes almost 3 weeks later. There's just nowhere to put everything. I'm so glad I ditched tons of my stuff before I moved, else there would be even more boxes.
My former boss stiffed me on my last paycheck. Gee what a surprise! I will just say that leaving that job and moving forward with my life is the best thing that has ever happened to me in my ENTIRE life. Honestly, I swear it is. That job was corrosive to my very soul. I am so much happier in this rugged and wild corner of Kansas.
There are new wonders to see every day. Incredibly large and unique bugs, baby barn swallows in nests, the horses and their antics, stunning sunsets and stormy skies, a frog symphony by the pond each evening... the list goes on and on.
The baby barn swallows in the nest on the front porch are quite adorable, although one looks like he has quite the attitude. I'll be keeping an eye on them, and trying to get a few more photos. It's a risky endeavor, as the barn swallow community likes to swoop and dive at me as I photograph their babies; many of my photos turn out fuzzy. I take about 15 just to get one good one!
In addition to the resident barn swallows, a certain box turtle seems to enjoy the same turf. I managed to get a pic of him the other day, but boy oh boy is he a fast mover! And I thought turtles were slow! This little guy is actually pretty big. I would estimate 6 to 8 inches across.
There are other more disgusting facets to country life -- squashed frogs in the driveway, rats and/or mice with their heads chewed off, spiders that are way too big to be in the house, etc. At least the cats are doing their job and killing the rats and mice before they get in the house along with spiders!!
Local folk range from downright weird to small-town friendly. I will say that most folk are very, very friendly -- this is one of the main things I love about small towns. I drove to Caldwell today, a historic cowtown about 17 miles west of us. Pretty much everything was "downtown" on Main Street. I stopped at Karl's Apple Market for a few groceries and dropped off an Ebay package at the local post office across the street. The postal employee wasn't sure what to make of my package with its prepaid Paypal label. I think that might have been a tad too much technology for him to grasp. Then I headed over to the Liquor Locker to get Tom some "hi-power" beer. According to Tom, the grocery stores only stock 3.2 beer. You have to go to liquor stores to get the good stuff.
Not too much traffic goes down our dirt road (ok, it does have gravel on it). In fact, when someone DOES go down our road, it's almost cause for suspicion. There are no other homes beyond our house. There is some property that will be auctioned off this weekend, so that has increased the "traffic" by 3 or 4 vehicles daily the last few days. Two local men stopped by a few days ago; they were hay baling to the fields south of us and one of the tractors overheated (gee, I wonder why?), so they got a few bucketfuls of water from me. It can be just a smidgeon frightening to have two strange men pull in your drive when you live in the stix. But they were very friendly, and very talkative. Shoot, I was ready to offer them a beer and a sit-down. :)
Oh yeah... and I'm hanging clothes outside these days too. Trying to get back to basics, and save a few dollars by not using the dryer so much. :)
Local folk range from downright weird to small-town friendly. I will say that most folk are very, very friendly -- this is one of the main things I love about small towns. I drove to Caldwell today, a historic cowtown about 17 miles west of us. Pretty much everything was "downtown" on Main Street. I stopped at Karl's Apple Market for a few groceries and dropped off an Ebay package at the local post office across the street. The postal employee wasn't sure what to make of my package with its prepaid Paypal label. I think that might have been a tad too much technology for him to grasp. Then I headed over to the Liquor Locker to get Tom some "hi-power" beer. According to Tom, the grocery stores only stock 3.2 beer. You have to go to liquor stores to get the good stuff.
Not too much traffic goes down our dirt road (ok, it does have gravel on it). In fact, when someone DOES go down our road, it's almost cause for suspicion. There are no other homes beyond our house. There is some property that will be auctioned off this weekend, so that has increased the "traffic" by 3 or 4 vehicles daily the last few days. Two local men stopped by a few days ago; they were hay baling to the fields south of us and one of the tractors overheated (gee, I wonder why?), so they got a few bucketfuls of water from me. It can be just a smidgeon frightening to have two strange men pull in your drive when you live in the stix. But they were very friendly, and very talkative. Shoot, I was ready to offer them a beer and a sit-down. :)
Oh yeah... and I'm hanging clothes outside these days too. Trying to get back to basics, and save a few dollars by not using the dryer so much. :)
