Roadside Observations

I have been living "in the country" now for nearly two years.  It's a 30 min. drive to the nearest Walmart.  My newly acquired job is 17.4 miles (one way) from my home.  My daily route to work takes me thru some back roads, known only to the "locals".  I doubt you'd find these roads on a map.  Even my GPS wants to route me over an old logging trail, thinking it's an actual ROAD.  Not!!  The logging trail is gated & padlocked at both ends.  (So much for GPS!)

My point is....I LOVE IT!  I see things on my drive to work and back, that a city dweller will NEVER see!  For instance:  I've seen more deer these past two years, than I've seen in my previous 56 years!   Last week, I saw, what I thought, was a friendly pack of dogs, sniffing around the trashcans of a nearby neighbor.  Turns out....it was a friendly pack of dogs... AND A PIG....a pig who THOUGHT it was a dog!!  That pig was doing everything the dogs were doing!  I wouldn't be surprised if it also barks....but I didn't have time to stop & find out.  And I guess the pack doesn't chase cars....lucky for the pig.  I doubt his stubby little legs would allow him to keep up with the pack at any speed.

Another day, I saw a dog being chased by a duck!!  I kid you not!!  The duck was flying low & fast, and was right on that dog's butt!  The poor dog had that tail tucked between his legs, tighter than Dick's hatband, and was running for all he was worth.  The duck wasn't just fooling around...I think he was out for blood!  I wish I could've seen the final outcome....it looked like the duck was winning! 

Coming home one afternoon, I had to slow my vehicle, way down to a crawl, to allow a herd of pigmy goats to clear out of the road!  They acted like it was their private playground, and they weren't too happy about having to move!  Gosh, they were cute!! (Is there anything sweeter than little goats frolicking with each other??)

Then there was the time I saw an old black man IN TOWN on horseback.  He sure looked out of place amongst all the automobiles!  What was even more odd, was to see that he was heading out to retrieve the herd of horses ('bout 10 of them!) he had left tied to trees, and grazing the lush grass along the side of the highway.  Guess maybe they don't use mowers, in this neck of the woods, for highway maintenance??  I can see the advantages....well, sort of.   Horses do leave some unpleasant "exhaust" in their wake....but it is totally biodegradable.  It's just not pleasant to look at until it DOES bio-degrade!

Goodbye, city life!! Honey, I love ya, but give me that countryside!! :-)