City Girl, Country MouseGuest Post by Lynn Viehl, author of After Midnight
I grew up in South Florida, and everyone hates me for this. Okay, I could wear a bikini and go to the beach pretty much any day – even on Christmas Day – and I never had to worry about getting a tan; I always had one. Living close to and later working in Fort Lauderdale and Miami, two of the busiest places in the southern U.S., taught me to be quite street-wise. By the time I left home and began traveling around the country, I always felt at home in any city.
Eventually I came home again, married a wonderful guy and had two kids. When my guy got a job transfer, he told me we’d be moving to a small town in Central Florida. I’d never lived or even visited the country, but I was a city girl; I could handle it. We’d be near Orlando (great city) and able to take our kids to Disney World whenever we wanted. It wasn’t like we were leaving civilization behind or anything.
We drove up to our new town to look at houses, but we didn’t get to our hotel until after dark. I did notice that things kept getting narrower and more deserted, until we ended up on this tinylittle two-lane county road that was completely black.
“Where are the street lights?” I asked my guy. When he told me there weren’t any, I pointed out the window. “Then what are those white sparkly things way over there?”
He snickered. “Uh, stars.”
The next day we went to look at properties. In the daylight I could finally take a good look around, although I didn’t see a town. I saw endless pastures, woods, swamps, farm houses and cows and goats and chickens and pigs and stuff. I even saw some people in the distance actually riding horses, just like in the movies. Still, no town appeared. As we passed one place I noticed a man driving an enormous tractor across a field, and asked my guy if he was plowing or planting something.
“He’s bush-hogging,” he said, and then saw my expression. “It means he’s mowing the lawn.”
“That’s a lawn?” My eyes practically popped out of my head. “That’s a lawn mower?”
We found a nice house in a good area, and while our yard was roughly equal in size to two blocks back in our old neighborhood, we bought the place. On the first day in our new home I saw my guy off to work and then went to take out the trash to the big cans under one of our oak trees. As soon as I touched the handle something burned me, and as I shrieked in pain I shook off something green and spiny that started crawling toward my shoe. I ran around the side of the house to use the hose to wash my burned hand, but as I turned it on I looked and saw evil eyeswatching me. An enormous monster was standing at our fence, not five yards away. He looked like he intended to step over the top rail, stroll over and bite off my head.
I locked myself in the house until my guy got home from work, and showed him the still-burning
welts on my hand.
“That must have been a buck moth caterpillar,” he said. “The oak trees are full of them.”
“What about that monster?” I demanded. When he told me it was just the neighbor’s horse, I got mad. “I know what a horse looks like, you know. They had one at the last birthday party I took the kids to. That thing out there was like ten times bigger.”
“That’s because it’s a horse, not a pony. And he doesn’t want to bite off your head.” He patted
my shoulder. “Stop being such a city mouse.”
That night as I was walking the dog, I saw what looked like a skinny, dirty German shepherd race across the yard and jump a four-foot fence in a single bound (that was actually a coyote, my guy informed me.) The next morning I went out to get the paper, and spotted a huge silver-blue dragonfly hovering over the roses that tried to swoop down on my head (that, my guy said patiently, was not a bug, but a hummingbird.) Later that week as I was sweeping the porch, I got chased back into the house by two dusty gray helmets ambling toward me (tortoises, my guy said.)“Every time I go outside I feel like Dorothy,” I complained. “Tiptoeing around and waiting for the lions and tigers and bears to show up.”
“We’re living in the country now, honey,” my guy said. “You’re going to run into all kinds of wonderful critters, but there won’t be any lions, tigers or bears. I promise.”
I hoped he was right, but I kept seeing things that were not so wonderful, like huge mutant grasshoppers, swarms of bats, and hairy light brown spiders as big as my hand that liked to jump at me. I admit, I also freaked out a little over finding a six-foot long molted snake skin caught on our fence (later we learned it belonged to a black racer, a snake farmers loved because they ate rats.) Nor did I appreciate finding a three-foot version of the same snake coming out of one of our bird houses.
But gradually I did get used to all the critters, and slowly stopped locking myself in the house so often. Maybe it was because I figured out that I scared them as much as they scared me. Like when my daughter began taking horseback riding lessons. Seeing my tiny girl climb into the saddle made me give the huge monster my version of the evil eye. He must have thought I was going to bite his head off, because he behaved like a perfect gentleman. My critter encounters were even fun at times, like when I found a Carolina wren nesting in one of my potted plants on our back porch, and got to watch her babies hatch and grow up.I also soon learned that birds would nest practically anywhere, like the time we went out to have a cookout and I saw a bird fly out of our grill.
“Honey,” I said to my guy, “Don’t turn the grill on.” When he asked why, I suggested he lift the lid first (and then we didn’t grill for a month after that.)About six months later we went to at a neighbor’s Christmas party, and I listened as one of the local farmers complained about losing half his chickens and all of his turkeys in one night to a hungry midnight thief.
“Was it a fox?” I asked, feeling a little smug and knowledgeable.
"Nah," he said. "Probably a bear."
Thanks so much for sharing with us what life in the country is like, Lynn! :)
Check back tomorrow for a huge giveaway!
40 comments:
Wow, that is quite a story! All those creatures would make me paranoid. Thanks for sharing your story!
I love going to my grandmas house, she lives in the country, her horse is mean though. I loved the interview.
hehe cute story. I understand what you mean by going from the city to out in the country. There are HUGE differences. I never lived out in the country but I have spent several summers with family in non-cities. Either out in the country (almost middle of nowhere in California) or really, really small villages (in Mexico). I LOVE it and my favorite parts are the quiet, the large almost seemingly endless beautiful space, and being able to see the stars so clearly. I live in Houston and it's immensely polluted, so you can understand why I miss being elsewhere.
:)
I've lived in the country and the city. After having lived in both areas, I find that I like the small towns, near the country and near the large cities. Or those cities that have the small town feel. Glad you survived the country.
I've lived in the country and the city. After having lived in both areas, I find that I like the small towns, near the country and near the large cities. Or those cities that have the small town feel. Glad you survived the country.
LOL! That's a great story. I grew up in such a mix that nothing really surprised me. So, did you see a bear eventually?
I'm always so envious of your critter-visits... these days I'm living a bit too far *in* town for my taste - rural small town that it is.
Your life sounds wonderful! I am quite envious! I'm a city girl who spent my summers on a Kansas farm, so I too know what it is like to love both worlds. Great pictures, too!
I can relate! Being mostly a "city girl" (city being relevant here), when I go to visit my parent who live near a creek in NC, the nature noises often keep me awake. Give me sirens or a train and I can sleep right through it!
I grew up in London, England. I moved back to the US for University and stayed. My husband and from Colorado, so I moved here to live with him. On 35 acres in the middle of nowhere. With black widow spiders and rattle snakes. It's a desert here, seriously. I miss the hulabaloo of the city. I'm knocking on wood that my transition into a sort of comfort with the lonely wildness will be smooth like yours. Thanks for the hope Lynn.
I laughed pretty hard when I read this because I'm freaked out by nature.
A few trees, some grass, and squirrels are about all I can handle.
I saw a hummingbird once and the buzzing wings and sharp beak scared me. But maybe there's hope for me, too.
^_^ I too grew up in the city-Grand Rapids MI. Now I live in a small Texas town that is literally 3 hours from anywhere. Some days I don't want to leave the house, but I know that some get in no matter what!
Hi Lynn. Wonderful post. I live in a rural area and we see lots of wildlife here. :) I am a big fan of your writing. Your book sounds great. Pretty cover.
Haha...wow, I'm sure that initial transition period must have been really overwhelming. I've actually been contemplating moving somewhere rural. I'm kind of getting tired of the hectic hustle & bustle of city life. When I lived in Poland, my family had friends who owned a huge farm positioned between a large wooded area and a lake. I absolutely loved spending my summers there. I loved exploring the outdoors and helping out with all of the different animals on the farm. I miss it.
Love the turtles and horses, but the snakes....shudder. I freak out when I find dead garden snakes and make the man find a proper burial. I admire your strength getting that close to the creepy crawlies.
I grew up in the desert and can totally appreciate moving from one world to another. When I went to college in a small town just south of Sacramento, CA, the sky was a hazy pink through part of the night and just dark after that thanks to the bleeding light pollution from the city.
After a couple months, one of my new friends who had grown up in LA told me she loved the area because "You can really see the stars!"
I said, "Yeah, all five of them."
I'll admit, my reaction to certain parts of city life (panhandlers, overly friendly homeless people and street harassers) was pretty much your reaction to caterpillars and monster horses.
That sounds so interesting! I would love all the wilderness there - except the snake, snakes gross me out due to some eating rabbits. I absolutely loooove tortoises :)
Critters can be very skeery!
What a funny story! I loved how she described the turtles as two helmets. And I'm not so sure if I could survive out in the country...I hate bugs and creepy things!
I've had tons of little critters as pets growing up. For some reason, I thought having a praying mantis was the coolest thing in the world. I also managed to raise an abandoned baby Blue Jay to adulthood. Her name was Baby Blue. :-)
that was a great story. I always wanted to know how country life would be like but sometimes it looks scary as well to.
Great post. Thanks for sharing! I dont know that I could really do country life.
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Alvaro Negredo on Atletico radar
Agen Bola indo11.com reported, Atletico Madrid are weighing up a summer move for Sevilla striker Alvaro Negredo.
Seeing as how Radamel Falcao Garcia looks set to leave the club in the summer, los Colchoneros have already started search for his replacement.
They have been linked with a number of players in the past, but it appears Sevilla star Alvaro Negredo is the most realistic option.
Negredo, 27, is seen as one of the most prolific goalscorers in Spanish La Liga and he would need virtually no time to adapt to the new surroundings.
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Negredo has been in fine form this season, scoring 20 goals in 32 league matches, taking his total goal tally in La Liga to 98. as reported by Indo Eleven.
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Lampard hails team-mates after breaking record
Agen Bola indo11.com reported, Chelsea’s Frank Lampard has praised his team-mates after he netted a double against Aston Villa to become the club’s record goalscorer.
The midfielder scored two second-half goals, including a late winner, to beat the mark of 202 set by Bobby Tambling as Rafael Benitez’s side came from a goal down to seal a 2-1 victory in a game which saw Ramires and Villa goalscorer Christian Benteke dismissed.
Victory all but ensures Chelsea’s place in next season’s UEFA and Lampard was pleased to have broken the record in such an important encounter.
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Benitez did not hesitate in stressing the magnitude of Lampard’s achievement, but, although the Spaniard was pleased to see his side practically secure a place in top four courtesy of their impressive goal difference, he revealed they are sweating over the fitness of John Terry and Eden Hazard for the UEFA final after the pair both sustained injuries.
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