Sunday, May 28, 2006

My Life...

What do goat skulls, prickly pears, and chiggers have in common?

They all are in Sidney,TX, my soon-to-be home. I'm moving out to the country. I understand some of you may live in the country, some may live in the bush, and some of you may live in the boonies, but I haven't yet and it's a little freaky. In my town there will be a post office, a school, the Baptist Church, and the Church of Christ. This school will be Emma's school and it consists of kindergarten through 12th grade. We call it Sidney School. We will live two houses away from the school, but, unfortunately, that is about a mile away.

So, sometimes coyotes come around and kill animals and the town folk have a poacher come out and find 'em and shoot 'em. But, then, they leave a dead carcass hangin' on the fencepost on the side of the road... It gets to smelling really nasty and you can't walk down the road without getting completely disgusted. It's awesome!

We went on a walk the other day and found a goat skull. We took it back to the house only to find a hornets nest in it. At least we pulled a tooth out of it before we threw it out!

For all of you city folk, chiggers aren't actually as freaky as one might suspect. If you think about it, it could be kinda gross because there's a bug under your skin but really it's just like a mosquito bite but it itches a little longer. The itching is easily solved with a nice coating of clear nail polish which suffocates them. Okay, it's gross but what can you do?

Finally, don't live in an ugly place. Sidney is better looking than Abilene but I really don't want to live where cactuses flourish! They're so freakin' ugly. And they're pokey!

9 comments:

Kara Deal said...

oh... bummer.... about the... neighborhood. If it makes you feel anybetter, Amarillo isn't much of a step up... but it's home. How long are ya'll there for? I'm guessing Ben is preaching there?

Let me know if there is anything I can do to help!

Priscilla said...

Sydney sounds an aweful lot like Trout Lake...and I don't think that I am permanently damaged from it (at least no one has told me that I am a weirdo...except maybe Jeb). How cool that Emma gets to go to a K-12 school...that's just like the TL school - 200 kids K-12...and you won't have to worry about her being overlooked in a classroom of 8!!! Ahhh...the country....good times!!! My favorite thing about the country is walking on the roads and having only a couple cars pass you...i love the quietness in the country! I hope you and ben your time in the country...sounds so exciting! Just think..you guys can probably shoot animals off your back porch...chelan told me aaron shot a snake or something once when they were out there! how rad would that be???

Raj Van Allen said...

Texas! Seriously? I lost my virgintiy in Texas! Man that brings back the memories! What are that chances, her name was Sydney, that is the town of Sydney! Yeah, I was a player back in Jr. High. I wont get into it too much, I think there is a limit on how long your comments can be. If you want to hear the whole story check out my blog tomorrow, I will tell you every detail. I will tell you all! Where my Ciggers at! WHA WHA!

tara said...

im so glad that youre going to be a country girl! its cute, and im sure mom could make you a bonnet. it will be so good for the kids and maybe ben could become town mayor or something...sydney doesnt really sound like okc, but it is hot here, and it does smell like butt quite often...so its kinda the same.

Jen said...

A little too much information Raj. But thanks for the comment.

Anonymous said...

Maybe if we ignore it... IT will go away!

Raj Van Allen said...

are you guys talking about me? Am I it? If you ignore me, you can't ignore me? Or would you rather? See ya.

Kaydub said...

I have some suggestions! Learn the beauty of the simple things of country life:
1. Throw rocks with Aiden.
2. Find doodle bugs("ant lions")
3. Get a birdbook
4. Learn the art of burning red ants with a magnifying glass.
5. Make slingshots.
6. Learn about farmin'.
7. Email you dad & mom more often.
8. Produce photo essays.
9. Pull the lest off grasshoppers and toss the critter on a red ant hill.
10. BLOG MORE!

Robby and Lynsey said...

Hey guys! Country living is definitly an adventure!
Once when I was little, I had red bumps all over me that were really itching. My mom put clear nail polish all over them (chigger bites) and sent me to school. When I got there, I went to the school nurse because they were bothering me. THe nurse was horrified that my mother put nail polish on all of my chicken pox!!

Make sure that the magnifying glass you get to burn ants is REAL ... otherwise, I don't think it will work properly.

One more - you should see if you can witness the birth of a baby calf - it's a classic! '

Good luck with the new gig. You guys will be great!