So I realized the other day as I was going out to get goat milk from the farm, that I really miss living out ‘in the woods’ as we say in the Northwest.
I love being out where the houses are somewhat few and far between. I love living somewhere that does not have a HOA.
See that picture up there? That was back in the day when Jeremiah used to be a little bit of a redneck. He pulled the look off nicely. I don’t have another picture on this hard drive that looks even remotely redneck-ish so I was forced to use that one or go out to the garage and open the safe and get the other one out and bla bla bla so there ya go.
So on our way out last week I decided to get really nostalgic and listen to country music. The kids were like, “What is wrong with mom?” I know it’s a little silly but I enjoyed myself.
While listening to, “Redneck Yacht Club” I was reminded of the days when we used to sit out on Mom and Dad’s back porch with our shotguns, drinking beer and shooting bats.
Good times.
My mom is terrified of bats. The thought of which reminds me of the time when Rach and I were pretty young and a bat got in the house (this was not a momentous occasion as it happened all the time back then). The main problem with that is the fact that my dad was not home from work yet.
I remember sitting down in the kitchen and hearing mom scream.
She then came running down the stairs, “Get out of the house!!!”
Rachel and I of course just sat there.
“You guys, there is a bat upstairs, we have to get out of the house.”
“But mom, what are we going to do? Can’t you just close the door?”
“Well, I didn’t, so go sit in the car until Dad comes home.”
At that we were hustled out the door to sit in the car until my dad came home and whacked the thing with a tennis racket. He managed not to kill it so he put it in a jar and later gave it to my cousin who was in high school at the time and thought it would be funny to release it in the girls bathroom at school. Which he did.
This was the point at which I learned to shoot bats.
It was much easier when one got in the house to just go to the room, shut the door, pump up the BB gun and shoot the stupid thing. Then to have to go sit in the car for a few hours with my little brother and sisters.
It’s so funny the little things you remember from childhood.
I am sure that is one of the stories my mom is REALLY glad I remember.
But it made a big impression on me.
So now the bat population at my parents house is quite diminished since we all used to spend our summers out shooting them, much to my dad’s chagrin since now they have not only a lack of family activities to enjoy but a large quantity of mosquitos.
Mom says she would rather have the mosquitos.
What’s that super cheesy saying? You can take the girl out of the country but you can’t take the country out of the girl.
What can I say? It’s a little bit true. But I do try to restrain that part of myself.
A little.
Most of the time.
Except when I go get goat milk and it take 20 minutes to get there and I feel like I am going home because of the length of the drive and the country music.
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