Adjusting to country life is- well. . . an adjustment. Even taking aside the normal pangs of moving and the head ache involved in home renovations, it’s still a big change. We’ve had possession of our new home for just over a month, and we aren’t even living full-time out of it yet and have already had quite a few surprises.
First was when I got bit by some- still unknown- insect. Everyone seems to agree it’s a spider of some sort. Maybe a brown-recluse. I never felt the actual bite; I just noticed a section of my ankle growing bigger and bigger. At first I thought it was one of those pesky Florida fire ants that always garners a sizable reaction on my body. But after a week, the bite mark only increased in size and nasty-ness. I won’t share the picture, but trust me when I say it was ugly looking. When I started having numbness and tingling sensations in my leg I realized I should probably see a doctor.
The bite is healing now. We still don’t know who the actual culprit was but- lesson learned. We won’t be traversing our property without muck boots of some sort. The girls already have their stylish pink rubber boots.
We’ve realized we really need to be more aware of our surroundings. We’re teaching the girls how to survey the areas where we’re walking to keep an eye out for pesky and potentially dangerous critters. Howard purchased a waterproof snake pamphlet for the girls and I to reference (you can find one for your state and local area here); while also teaching the girls to just stay clear of all snakes. And while I hope we won’t ever have need of it, our local fire station is supplied with anti-venom.
Secondly, we met some of our neighbors. Turns out, lots of circus folk live in the country so they can keep their animals. Our new ‘neighborhood’ includes bears, lions, and tigers. At certain times of the day you can hear these animals being fed. (Which, after living in the suburbs all my life, can take a bit of getting used to. . .)
Speaking of neighbors, we haven’t met them all yet. Everyone’s houses are spaced pretty far apart. In fact, you can’t even see any neighbors from our house because of the way our property is set up. But the neighbors we have met have been welcoming and have only increased my desire to be out there full-time.
And lastly, yesterday we had yet another new experience. I was cruising down a country road, listening to our latest new children’s music CD to review (look for review later this week), the girls were happily singing along when all of the sudden–
A freaking buzzard flies INTO my windshield. I saw it just out of the corner of my eye and realized we were on a collision course, and in that fraction of a second, I realized I couldn’t even swerve but would have to hit it as there was a car in the oncoming traffic lane.
I immediately pulled over, made sure the girls and myself were okay, and walked to the front of the car to see how much damage was done. Luckily it turned out be just the windshield which was covered by our insurance but I didn’t know that at the time. I just kept thinking about how much moving and renovations we have left to do, and how little time we have left to get it all done, and how much money seems to be flying out the window. Now literally. I started crying. Then I realized my girls were freakishly quiet so I tried to compose myself so they weren’t traumatized unnecessarily by mommy’s hysterics.
Long story short- the windshield was covered so it didn’t cost us anything but time. I realize we were lucky. No one was hurt.
Just that darn bird.
Any wonder that I keep hearing that one line from the song “A Whole New World” repeat over and over in my head?
♪ ♫ A whole new world / Every turn a surprise . . . ♪ ♫
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