Chapter 15 Ricochet!

I've been hearing on the news lately about animals having rabies brought on by the current heat and drought.  People should be particularly careful of fox and skunks.  Now I can say I've had a run in with both.

I was in such a wonderful first sleep, the best kind, when Shadow began his "I've got something cornered" bark about 12:30am.  I listened for a while, reluctant to bring myself to total consciousness.  He persisted and I knew I had to investigate.  My husband was in his usual "deep sleep when needed mode" so I left him there as I ventured into the night air.  Air?  Smelly air!  Well I had been smelling skunk on the air for a few days now, particularly on the north side of the property when I took my evening walks.  Having heard the warning on television about rabid skunks in the area I couldn't help but wonder as I was trekking along with my dogs if a rabid skunk would suddenly appear, what would I do?  Rabid animals lose their shy nature when they are sick with the deadly virus.  Would one suddenly come rushing from the bushes and bite us?

Back to the present, I grab my father's old metal flashlight and the dog leash, turning on a few outdoor lights as I went.  The sound was coming from the front of the house but I thought better of exiting through the front door.  As I rounded the corner I saw Shadow rolling in the gravel drive, rubbing his nose and eyes.  I knew it was that elusive skunk I had been smelling on the wind.  The light of my flashlight revealed this to be so.  It was little and scrawny just like the rabid fox had been and it was wedged up between a cowboy boot planter and the corner of the alcove.  My first thought was to get this crazy black dog on the leash which he gladly helped me do.  He must have been thinking I could somehow end his misery having been sprayed in the face with skunk oil.  I got him tethered to the bench in the porte cochere and went to wake my sleeping mate. 

I call his name several times, no response.  Is he even alive?  I touch his knee, nothing.  Then I become a bit more aggressive shaking his leg with my hand.  I'm telling myself this is not the time for him to die on me, he can do that later, I need him now.  At last he opens his eyes and stares at me,,,eerie!  I ask him if he wants to shoot a skunk.  He mumbles a few expletives as he rolls out of bed and heads for his gun, complaining as he goes about the awful smell. 

The skunk is still there and Mickey is dancing around on all fours with excitement till he sees the gun.  He has learned that this item in my husband's hand is not a good thing.  He retreats far away.  The skunk is still wedged in his corner so we are thinking the best way to flush him out is with the garden hose.  I hold the weapon while my husband retrieves the hose and begins spraying the cute little creature.  Skunks are cute from a distance.  If you have ever watched one amble along looking for food with their beautiful tails in the air you can appreciate how cute they are. 

This reminds me of a day when I was walking the dogs on the ranch road and I spotted one.  He was ambling along parallel to us about 10 feet away, happily going about his business with his head down.  I naturally sped up my pace and so he seemed to do the same.   I  was wondering if he was chasing me, as he appeared to be doing just that.  I broke into a trot laughing as I went at the thought of running from a skunk.  The scene calls to mind a cartoon from the recesses of my mind.  The dogs and I ran as I looked back telling myself  "feet don't fail me now".  I continued my pace looking back as I went until the skunk was out of site.  I couldn't wait to get into the house and tell my husband that a skunk was chasing me, which he was not, but it was a good story! 

The spraying of water did not flush the skunk from the safety of the corner behind the planter.  I went for a stronger nozzle, one that would deliver a straight stinging stream of water.  It did not work either, he continued to cower in the corner.  I imagine this little guy was thirsty and the shower felt good.  We had to do something because chances were he was probably sick and his name was at the top of the executioners list. 

My husband told me to keep spraying the water as he backed off, squatted and took aim like a soldier in the field aiming at the advancing enemy.  At first I did as I was told but then in a flash it occurred to me that I might be in danger.  He was 15 feet away from the stone wall about to shoot a very powerful pirate's gun and I was spraying from an angle but only about 6 feet away.  In a millisecond I responded to my thinking as it was entering my brain, drop the hose and run.  I did just that, turning as I went when I heard the boom and felt the sting almost simultaneously.  I let out a little yelp and grabbed my shoulder, what the hell was that?  I knew instantly that I had been very lucky because the position I had been in a few seconds earlier put my face in the direct path of that ricochet. 

I could't believe it, I had been wounded in the line of duty.  We left the deceased skunk where he died, tucked into the "safety" of his corner.  My husband put away his weapon, climbed back into bed and resumed his earlier pose.  I of course lay there in shock.  Off to the guest room I went to sit in the rocker and knit, trying to process all that had happened as I sang Cher's song "Bang Bang My Baby Shot Me Down".

I took a picture of my injury, my husband refused to help me incriminate himself.  He obviously felt really badly as we joked about him having shot me and that I needed to be good in the future because now I know what he is capable of!  The man is a damned good shot.  His aim was perfect.  He killed that skunk with one shot, hitting it in the head.  If his aim had been off a hair, he would have exploded the planter or hit the house dead on which would have caused an even bigger ricochet.

My shoulder is fine, it's just a graze as you can see in the picture.  It only burned for a few minutes but the reality of what it could have been is what I couldn't let go of.  I don't believe I will put myself in harms way like that again.  Another lesson learned from country living.  And it made for a damned good blog!

The wound I live to tell about!

The dejected smelly dog.

You can see how the shot hit the stone and sprayed mortar on the planter.

Chapter 14 Ethan

We were  shoveling river rocks into the front flower beds to cut down on the task of weeding when a large bird flew over our heads and landed on the roof.  I thought it was a large dove but knew there was something different about it.  I continued to go about my task of shoveling when it registered in my brain that this was a pigeon.  We don't usually see pigeons out here but we do have quite a few doves.  It kept circling the house coming in closer each time so that I could see that it had a band on it's leg.  Now my brain had kicked into gear, this was someone's racing pigeon, I had to save it.  The pigeon decided to land in the back yard where there was water and bird seed.  Oh no!  The jaws of death would soon be upon him.  I put a leash on the black dog and tethered him in the carport.

What should I do?  This pigeon was headed for the back porch and then looking in my windows.  I believe he thought he was home.  I went to my computer and googled racing pigeons in Texas.  I found a number of someone in a town nearby who was a member of a homing pigeon group.  I called him and he told me to try to get the numbers on the bird's leg.  I took a picture of him through the glass door and was able to get the numbers.  I called the fellow back to give him the information.  He tried locating the bird's owner through a racing pigeon website but couldn't seem to find it.  He then gave me the phone number of the president of the local chapter of racing pigeons.  He told me to try to get it into a cage by putting food and water into the cage.  It was so easy, it worked!  I put the dog kennel on the back porch with food and water in it and propped the door open.  Mickey Blue, the Pyrenees was very curious but I knew he would not hurt the bird.  I told him to go away, which he did. Within a matter of minutes the bird was approaching the kennel as I stood ready nearby to close the door of the kennel once he entered.

The pigeon walked straight into the kennel the way I hoped he would.  I quickly closed the door, success!  I phoned the number of the local president without luck.  His voice mail told me he was out of town.  I put the kennel in the garage for the night to insure a hungry snake would not slither into the kennel and make a tasty dinner of the wayward bird.

The next morning I was able to make contact with the head of the local chapter.  He said to give him a little time and he would locate the owner from the numbers I had given him.  Within an hour he called me back with a name and number.  I called the number and spoke to a very nice man who loved to talk. Yes, this was his bird, named Ethan.  Ethan was named after his grandson and actually belonged to his granddaughter in south Texas.  Apparently Ethan had been in a race about 150 miles away and must have gotten tired and decided to take a rest where he sensed there was food and water.

Ethan's home was about 50 miles south of my home.  It was agreed that I should take Ethan to the nearest intersection and point him south as I released him.  I loaded up the kennel into the back of my car and headed down to the north/south highway intersection.  I pointed him south and tossed him into the air.  Ethan flew high into the sky and began to circle.  He circled for quite some time trying to get his bearings and then he took off but not south.  I was very concerned but figured he would eventually realize he was headed the wrong direction.

I phoned Ethan's owner to tell him to keep a lookout for Ethan.  A day later Ethan still had not returned home.  His owner suggested that sometimes pigeons philander a bit before returning home.  He assured me that once Ethan sewed his wild seed that he would make his way back home.

Ethan's owner said most people would not have realized  that he was not just another bird.  He was very grateful that I cared enough to help him find his way home.

I never heard if Ethan made it home or if he is still out philandering.  I prefer to think he went home and assume that he did or the owner would have called me thinking Ethan had returned to my yard.  Soar high Ethan, soar high into the sky.

Ethan

Chapter 13 Crazy like a Fox

When I power up the lap top the first thing I see on Yahoo is 8 simple ways to loose weight and none of them include eating peanut butter and crackers at 5:30 am.  Are these people that write this stuff even real?  Surely they must just sit around and make it up.   "The Weight Loss Tips I'm Not Trying".  How about trying wrestling with a fox and 2 big dogs?  That's gotta count for something!   And what about Katie Holmes and her fashion face-off.  I bet she isn't in the dirt and gravel in the wee morning hours in her pj's with her hair flying and no makeup.  And on top of that, she is skinny.  Where is the justice?  Surely my morning workout must have consumed some calories...enough to justify a little peanut butter snack to sustain till morning coffee time?  What is wrong with these people?  Have they nothing else to do with their lives, get real!

It's now 5:30 am and I'm sitting in my favorite rocker eating peanut butter and crackers as if I were skinny.  I'm hungry,,,,I have just wrestled two 85 pound dogs, saving them from the jaws of a tiny little fox that insisted on entering our yard at 4:30 am.  Ever try putting peanut butter between two crackers and popping the entire thing into your mouth so you don't get crumbs in the key board?  Quite a feat, you will chew forever because the mass in your mouth will get bigger before it gets smaller.  I finally quit shaking but can't sleep...I like to go to bed late at night and sleep late in the morning....but not this morning.

I was laying in bed awake at 4:30 when I heard Shadow rip from his own slumber and tear away from the patio door outside my bedroom.  And then the strangest sounds floating to my ears from a corner of the yard.  It was a combination of howl, cry and bark.  Oh my gosh this was going to be a good one.  Something new and different was out there.  Up to the door I flew in a flash, grabbed my flashlight and the leash and was out of the house into the dark night wondering what I would encounter this time.  Am I insane?  Yes, probably. Why didn't I awaken the man lying beside me?  He was snoozing so peacefully, I just couldn't bring myself to be so cruel.

Out the door, around to the front of the house, where the hell are those dogs?  I shine the flashlight around the yard and see them at the back gate.  What a sight.  Shadow is on his belly pawing to get under the gate and Mickey is on his back, humping him in pure excitement.  I'm running toward them yelling, "hey, hey".  Now I'm laughing as I write this. Why I ever even speak to those dumb dogs just amazes me.  I get to the gate and see a tiny little feisty fox on the other side.  What the hell is wrong with this wild animal?  Does he think he is in a cage or does he think the dogs are in a cage?  He has the entire country side to roam in.  Why is he at my gate at 4:30 in the morning snarling and biting at my dogs.  This little fox I'm thinking must have rabies and this is not a good scenario.

Shadow is totally lost in his futile effort to get to this fox.  As hard as I try I cannot turn his collar to get the leash on it.  He and Mickey are jumping around like a couple of banshees and I'm swinging and yelling at both of them thinking if this little fox has rabies, even a scratch could be a bad thing and he is nipping at them through the gate.  Damned I wish I could get into a dogs brain at this moment.  What drives them to stick their noses through to danger?  Finally my swearing and hitting at Mickey with the flashlight gets his attention and he retreats.  But not Shadow.  My strength is ebbing, my heart is racing, my mouth is dry and I'm shaking.  I've got this damned dog between my legs and his collar in my hand but can't turn it to put the leash on it.  The fox is within 12 inches of my hand snarling and nipping....why don't I have my camera and what would I have done with it if I did.  I've already dropped the flashlight and where the hell is my husband, can't he hear all this commotion outside his bedroom?  I take a break as I look around me and up at the sky with this dog between my legs.  I'm thinking, "is this going to be the big one for me?  Is my heart going to give out any moment and I'm going to drop in the damned gravel driveway?"  Get my breath back, slow down heart, don't give out on me now knee....I can't put my full weight on my knee now, what the hell is going on with that?  "Come on" I tell myself, "find your reserve, you can do this."  One more try and the leash is hooked to the collar but the dog won't budge.  I try with all my strength to pull him toward the house and he is focused on the fox, "please let me get to that fox".  I slowly manage to move him inch by inch away from the gate.  I know if I can get him far enough away and can turn him toward the house my task will be easier.  Slowly, slowly, he reluctantly gives in and we are headed toward the carport.  If I can just make it to the bench in the carport and plop my rear end down I might not die tonight.  Ah, at last reprieve.  I am breathing hard trying to take in oxygen as I stare at this insane black dog who now wants to lick my face.  Mickey has retreated to the back porch, done with it all, sighing as he relaxes.  I hook the leash under the leg of the bench, give the insane one a bucket of water and go into the house.

I think I'm going to sleep.  Ha!  I've got to write, this is too good, but oh I wish I had gotten a video of this excitement.  I wanted so badly to go back out with my  camera to see if the fox was still at the gate but I knew crazy dog would drag the bench with him to follow me and probably entangle the vehicle with it, dragging it all down the driveway.

I can't sleep, the soreness is setting in to all my muscles.  The skin on my palms and fingers has friction burn from holding on to the collar and leash, my hip feels out of place, I am too old for this shit.  I get my lap top from the kitchen, some crackers, peanut butter and a knife and retreat to a guest room to write.  It's now 6:30 am and I feel like I've been in a car wreck.

It's daylight and I'm going to use my time wisely since I'm awake at this ungodly hour.  I'm taking my dogs and camera and heading out to find something good to write about.

Wow, just walked around to the front porch and found the little fox....dead.  I don't know how he died but he must have just dropped over between 5 and daylight.  The crazy black dog didn't get him cause he was on a leash.  Did Mickey sneak around there and snap his neck without me knowing?  Couldn't have cause I didn't hear a thing and the fox would have put up a fight.  He must have been on his last leg at the gate at 4:30...he was giving it his all before he passed on to the great beyond and then walked through the iron slats of the gate to his final resting place.  He was very thin and one eye was bulging.  What happened to him?

Chapter 12 Visitors

I was looking out a window one evening, hoping to see something exciting.  Sometimes I just get this urge to look out the window and it seems there is always a surprise waiting for me.  It was almost dark and I saw a black item laying on the porch.  I thought maybe I had left something laying there for the black devil Shadow to devour in the middle of the night.   I ran out to find a black chicken snake that had just fallen off the wall after feasting on a swallow nest.  The swallows are part of our family and he had one in his mouth.  The snake was lucky, we let him slither off into the night..  We felt a sense of loss over the swallows that had just become his meal.

Last year I was away for the night supervising an all night lock in for my son's graduating class.  As I said before, my husband can sleep through almost anything except maybe a squeaking board in the floor.  I arrived home about 7 am to find the black lab's face quite swollen.  Upon further investigation I saw two fang marks spaced rather far apart on his nose.  I knew he had been bitten by a large rattlesnake.  This dog puts up quite a fuss when he sees a snake but my husband slept right through it.  I put the dog in my car and headed for my vet.  Of course it was Saturday and he was on vacation.  The vet tech sent me to the next town about 12 miles away assuring that vet would be in.  As luck would have it, the neighboring vet was not in his offce that Saturday either.  I had been away all night supervising a large group of 18 years olds...it was all I could do to keep my eyes open as I headed back home clutching the steering wheel with all I had in me thinking that would somehow keep me awake.  I'm sure I fell asleep at the wheel a few times before I reached home.  Thankfully my car knew the way through the white and drifted caliche!

I woke my husband and told him my story and he was a gentleman, agreeing  to chauffeur me and the black dog to find a vet.  We called ahead to another neighboring town a little further away.  They said, yes, they would see the dog.  As we neared the vet I received a call from them telling me they were sorry for the inconvenience but they had over booked and I would have to drive even further to the next town.

We arrived at the Animal Diagnostic Hospital, the name in itself should have told me not to enter those doors..  Shadow was ushered into an exam room in no distress,,,,nothing bothers this dog.  Triage was performed, I was gifted with a computer print out of the impending damage to my bank account...only $2,200.  Ha, surely they did not know who they were talking to. My husband was tucked away neatly into a comfy chair in the waiting room, thank goodness for that or he would have had us all exit through the same door we came in.  I examined the bill and told them they would have to do better than that.  I love my dog but jeez that was overkill.  My philosophy has always been, "first do no harm" to my dog or my check book.  They were very patient with me and came back with an estimate of slightly under $2,000.  I told them it was not good enough, they needed to do better.  With a little grin the vet tech retreated to the office again and returned a short time later.  I guess the matter was discussed and it was decided I was going to be one of those customers who was not going to part with their money easily.  I grinned to myself as I waited in the exam room, imagining what they were saying about me in the outer office. This time the estimate was reduced to under $1000.  I decided to help them.  I told them I would take a cortisone shot, a benydryl shot and an antibiotic shot.  I got out of there for less than $200.  Woe be to the next unsuspecting victim.

We stopped at Walmart for more benydryl and we had a stock of amoxicillin at home.I medicated Shadow each day for about a week.  The dog did just fine. The swelling got worse before it got better but eventually he recovered.  He never missed a meal or a chance to play.  I must mention that I do keep pretty current with an annual rattlesnake shot for my dogs.  I wonder what they did before rattlesnake vaccinations?  I suppose most dogs survived although I have heard some horror stories about dogs and snake bites.  The anti venom price is outrageous, plus kennel fees, and iv therapy.

Thereafter when there is a rattlesnake in our yard or on the porch Shadow lets us know loud and clear, "rattlesnake".  He always did before but his bark is much more fierce now.

Why is it the dogs always start to bark as we turn out the lights and just begin to drift into sleep?  We were at that stage of slumber when I recognized Shadow's "I've got a snake bark".  We jump out of bed, grab the flashlight and turn on all outside lights.  We didn't need to go far....in the carport under the vehicle was a small rattler wedged under the edge of a tire.  He had come to get his dinner and he had a mouse in his mouth.  I'm certain he was wondering why we were interrupting his attempts to swallow his dinner.  It didn't occur to us to just start the engine and roll over him, that would have solved the problem quite safely.  Instead, my husband squirted him with the water hose and after a bit he came into the open.  The memory of being bitten by one of these slithery creatures was still fresh in Shadow's mind.  He laid down on the floor of the carport and began to shake and cry.  My husband quickly disposed of the diner and we retreated back into slumber land.

In the early days of moving to the country as we began to deal with snakes, my first instinct was to set them free outside the yard.  Against my husband's better judgement he listened to me and once put a rattler into a 5 gallon bucket with a handle.   I instructed him to take the bucket down the hill and toss the snake over the fence.  He did just that but along the way the snake struck at his hand.  He was fast enough to drop the bucket and not get bitten.  He had a hoe in his hand, surely I thought he would have had enough forethought to slip the handle of the bucket over the end of the hoe.  He quickly learned that was the thing to do.  After that incident he doesn't listen to me.  He now employs swift and speedy justice for having ventured into his yard....death!

Speaking of mice, we had a small family of them living in the back of our wine cooler before it was installed into it's cubby in the kitchen.  Our refrigerator had not been delivered yet so we were using the wine cooler as a frig.  My son and I were sitting in the kitchen talking and I thought I saw something in my peripheral vision.  I asked my son if he saw anything and indeed he did.  We decided that there was a creature of some sort in our house.  We sat quietly and waited and "yep" there was a mouse.  Humans sometimes do things out of habit or just because they think that's the way to do things.  After all, mouse traps are manufactured and sold to trap and kill mice.  So we did what seemed logical at the time.  My husband set a trap and before we went to bed we had killed the mother of this mice family.  Again, without thinking my son and I found the babies all nestled safe and warm in the back of the wine cooler.  We picked up each one by the tail and deposited them outside in the cold.  The next morning my conscience kicked in and I was feeling awfully bad for what I had done.

We had a young friend in his 20's come through on his motor bike and stay a few days.  He is a birder, he counts and researches birds.  He was coming from Delaware, on his way to Phoenix to observe Falcons.  The day he was leaving we found a mouse in our bathtub.  Having remembered the family I murdered recently I couldn't kill again so I decided to make amends.   Our guest put the little mouse in a cardboard tube and released him somewhere along his route.

Our motor cycle friend has his own blog which is an awesome read of his travels:
http://www.motorbikebirder.com/

Country Life The Retirees: Natives of the land

Country Life The Retirees: Natives of the land: "This visitor was eating my swiss chard. The first year I planted swiss chard it was rapidly disappearing. Something was eating it faster..."

Natives of the land

This visitor was eating my swiss chard.

The first year I planted swiss chard it was rapidly disappearing. Something was eating it faster than it could grow.  I soon discovered the something to be grasshoppers.  They can destroy a plant over night almost.  Some years they are almost a plague and some years few are seen.  When I can catch them I feed them to my chickens.

I almost got a handful of these when I was picking pole beans.  One must be careful when putting their hand inside a veggie bush.

I came very close to being kissed by this guy when I was picking tomatoes.  If half of his body had not been caught in the bird net it would have been a trip to the doc for me.  He couldn't strike his full ability because of the net, lucky for me.  I had to free him or he would surely die.  After that close call I employed the help of a rake.  I pinned his head "Jeff Corwin" style with the rake and cut him free with my other hand only to have him slither right back through the net on the other side of the tomatoes.  I had to cut him free again.  Chicken/rat snakes can be real pests if they are eating my chicken eggs but they also serve to keep the rodent population under control.

A much larger version of this fellow was allowed to go free after slithering up the wall and gorging himself on a swallow nest.  It was very sad for some but survival for others in the animal kingdom  - "the food chain"....snakes are higher than swallows.

He had a few of our eggs in his belly!  But my husband and his trusty shotgun interrupted his meal.

Amazing, both these gals are real sissys when it comes to snakes but they happily posed for me along side the chicken house marauder.  When taking an evening walk I saw the grass was moving about, kind of like the scene in Jurassic Park when the raptors are hiding in the tall grass and about to eat the people.  It was an eerie scene and the dogs saw it.  They stopped and stared as something was moving quickly through the grass.  I stood there kind of dumb like, not realizing it could be a snake and then continued on.  I felt as if I was being stalked.  I came to a grove of trees and the dogs stopped again looking up the trunk of the tree.  I then focused my eyes on the tree trunk to see a large camouflaged snake slithering to the upper branches.  It positioned itself in the small branches and leaves, poised in midair to look like the tree.   There it remained trying to catch an unsuspecting bird.  I had to move on because it was getting dark quickly, chastising myself as I went for not having my camera along.

The next day my husband called me to bring the short shotgun to the chicken pen.  Waiting patiently in the coop was this large snake hoping to get an egg.  My husband poked at him with a stick and he dropped to the ground.  I shot at it as it slithered off  into the weeds.  Damn, I missed it.  I'm no good with a short gun.  Give me a long gun and I never miss.  A few weeks later the snake was back and it had grown.  My husband shot him while he was resting inside the chicken coop.  He then posed for the camera with my friends.

Probably an offspring of the one in the picture above.

Below are the porcupines my husband sent to the great beyond.

These guys were waiting to eat the porcupines we murdered in the middle of the night.

I think this is a katydid but not sure.

Mating grasshoppers. Is this a minage a trois? Or is the third one a sex therapist or voyeur?  Can you believe they had the nerve to mate in my garden.  It's probably where their offspring will be born and my veggies will be their pantry!

Mrs. Walking Stick posing for me!  I love these insects.  They have such personality.  I can't help but wonder what they are thinking about me. I believe this one is thinking "poop on you".  When I see them in the road or about to be murdered by one of the dogs I always remove them to safety.

I was dumb founded the day my husband called me to the window to see the "big deer".  I stared at it for quite a while trying to figure out what was different about it.  It's ears were so big and it really was the biggest damned doe I had ever seen.  As we continued to stare, the bushes beyond it began to move and out walked, "holy shit, it's a camel", but of course it wasn't.  I could not believe my eyes, this was the biggest deer I had ever seen, it must be the mama.   They strolled up close to the fence and lingered a bit before turning and disappearing into the cedars.  Why had I not thought to get a picture of these "amazon deer".  It took me a few hours but after retreating back into my mindless day of knitting and gardening, it hit me.....and I was embarrassed to admit it but I had to tell my husband that what we had seen earlier in the day were elk.  How embarrassing....I knew there was something about those ears!  It's just odd to see elk roaming freely in these hills.  There are plenty of them on game ranches.  This lucky family must have escaped being the target of a paying "hunter" on a game lease.  Some "good ole' boy" would have taken them down for a photo opp.    It was good to see them roaming freely and I hope they still are.  I have a friend who resides in Alaska who would not have been impressed or fooled by the appearance of these large creatures.  She gets moose in her yard on a regular basis!

White tail deer.  The lady below was posing for me.  I took this from the window of my car.

She was only about thirty feet from me and the dogs on our evening walk.

An eerie moon.

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Country Life The Retirees: Give Me That Country Life Chapter 3: "Before we moved from the city we added a new member to our family. We had always wanted a dog but my husband would not agree to adopting a..."

Country Life The Retirees: Chapter 4 Snakes, Chickens and The First Garden

Country Life The Retirees: Chapter 4 Snakes, Chickens and The First Garden: "Our daughter would visit us from the city, only an hour away...she would come out for the weekends. One morning when we were all still slee..."

Country Life The Retirees: Chapter 5 The Beginning or The End

Country Life The Retirees: Chapter 5 The Beginning or The End: "There is something to be said for building a house in the way of entertainment, especially when one is on location. First the ground must b..."

Country Life The Retirees: Chapter 6 The Foundling and the Disciplinarian

Country Life The Retirees: Chapter 6 The Foundling and the Disciplinarian: "I'm the kind of person who takes in orphans, not the human kind but winged or four legged types. There was a black Labrador that kept makin..."

Country Life The Retirees: Chapter 7 Hunting Trips and Snares

Country Life The Retirees: Chapter 7 Hunting Trips and Snares: "Before the fence was erected the dogs would take themselves on walks or I should say hunting trips. They would be gone for hours and come b..."

Country Life The Retirees: Chapter 8 Racoons and Porcupines

Country Life The Retirees: Chapter 8 Racoons and Porcupines: "One night recently I was awoken at 3 am to the sound of Shadow's bark. His 'I've got something cornered bark' is different from his warnin..."

Country Life The Retirees: Chapter 9 Extended Family

Country Life The Retirees: Chapter 9 Extended Family: "It's a sure sign of spring with the return of the swallows. I don't know where they go for the winter but I've heard they return to the sam..."

Country Life The Retirees: Chapter 10 Porcupine Hunts

Country Life The Retirees: Chapter 10 Porcupine Hunts: "I do love this place where we have chosen to live out our retirement years, but I never could have imagined all the excitement that would co..."

Country Life The Retirees: Chapter 11 Road Kill and the Brain in Neutral

Country Life The Retirees: Chapter 11 Road Kill and the Brain in Neutral: "I walk my dogs every evening on their coupled leash. There hasn't been a dog fight in quite some time now so I'm feeling confident. It was..."