Thursday, October 22, 2009

Down country roads...





What makes a country girl...

Was always that unusual child, the tomboy, the adventurer, loving the rides to the country, my Mom still does. Always a new world to explore, the family vacations...I might as well have been flying to the moon, it all was a wonder to me.

What did we ever do without digital cameras, now I can absorb all I see and lose myself in their memories each and every day with the chatter of a keyboard.

Always wanted to marry a farmer...to be surrounded by kittens and chickens. I was lucky to have shared 20 years with a farmer, not living on the farm, but it was across the street, the family farm, the homestead, the parents...just like back in the day.

I surrounded myself with my dreams...I collected eggs in my nightgown, soothed my Grandsons fears when the turkeys chased him back through the screen door...GRANDMA!!!
Collected peacock feathers, white and blue, that my strutting peafowl scattered 'round my yard, refilled the cement pond for my gathering flock of mallards, laughed at the antics of the gosling Canada geese and butchered chickens 'till my hands bled...life was good...

Married to a woodsman and conservationist, trips to the wetlands were frequent...sporting black and brown chamo makeup all over my face, I dutifully follow 'the man' turkey hunting in the wee hours of the dawn...did I mention we were married in a duck blind on the opening day of duck season...all decked out in chamo at the end of the dock, I awaited his return to shore... where all the fellow duck hunters had gathered in their duck boat blinds...there was a 21 gun salute when 'the man' said 'I do'...let's crack the keg...and fun was had by all...

Blizzards and heatwaves never stopped the travelers down these country roads, there were pheasant and white tail to be seen...and the winds and the leaves, tall prairie grasses saluted our passing and an occasional skull was discovered in the ditch...a reward for tenacity...

All times I remember as a funeral leads 'the man' home...
as I drive the back roads, watching...alone...

Hey, what about me...I'll go for a ride...

Come on Scratch git in the truck!!!