How I spent my summer vacation part two

Friday June 22: spent the day "in town" shopping at the Wal Mart for things that we needed to pick up. Specifically a barrier providing bug spray. I don't remember the name of the stuff but you spray it inside and out and its supposed to stop all creepy crawlies. Apparently works ONLY on things that creep and crawl. Still had an abundance of flies and wasps. Waited for a friend from high school to arrive to join us for the weekend. Had supper, still no sign of friend. Worried and phoned her. She wasn’t even to the halfway point yet. She too got a late start.

BF and boys and I sat out on the front porch coated with bug spray and holding my cell phone while watching for friend to arrive. With each passing car I waved the spot light around my truck. No good. Heard a vehicle. I waved the spotlight wildly then hear a loud, hard thump followed by screeching tires. Think Oh hell I've caused an accident. Have I mentioned the actual use of the spotlight? I mean other than the flagging of my friend. No? Sorry. This light was actually employed for night walking to aid in the detection of any snakes.

Anyway. I dash off the porch and hurry to the road because A) feared I caused the accident and B) needed to make sure everyone was safe. I scurried to the highway to find a man standing in the road looking at both sides. I ask him if he's all right he says yes. He hit a deer. (My light had nothing to do with it, thank goodness!) No deer present. Fur on bumper tells story. Apparently the man only hit the hindquarter of the deer with his bumper. The deer, injured, leapt off from the scene. (Maybe the forest patrol will pick it up for leaving he scene of an accident? Or perhaps it was a case of drinking and leaping. You know those deer poker parties are pretty wild...)

At this point BF and her two boys are approaching waving a flash light (I guess it was to make sure the man knew I wasn't alone. Tell me what a 115 pound woman with two children was going to do IF there was a problem?!?!?!?!) Man assures us he's all right. He gets into his truck and drives away.

As we're walking back to the front porch of the trailer we still fail to pay attention to using our lights. (Not the brightest bulbs in the lamps are we...) Smell assaults our noses. This odor is so rank it almost makes us ill. It is the wonderful smell of wet garbage and mildew. The very same cologne worn by well-dressed bears all over the country. Become only slightly concerned. I mean after all, I only have to outrun Bf and her two boys. Make it to trailer porch as smell dissipates. Apparently our perfume, (or faded deodorant?) didn’t appeal to him.

Phone rings. Friend has finally arrived and I have to talk her into the proper landing zone. Rejoice in her arrival and the fact that if she had been any sooner it would have been her colliding with the deer rather than the man in the pick up truck. I'm not sure her car would’ve come out ahead in the deal. She begins to exit the vehicle and I have to stop her so that I could do snake check. She thinks I’m joking. Becomes very uncomfortable to learn I’m not. Whatever the term for snake a phobe is, that's what she is. Help her inside. Get her things settled. Then we go on our night drive.

Seems our injured deer must've been on his way to the card party, maybe the bear and he were going together? After all friends don’t let friends drink and scamper. Only spot 4 deer, 1 skunk (notice a pattern? Maybe the skunks didn't receive an invitation?) And a hand full of bats. With all the windows on the truck open smells come wafting on the evening air. The smell of pot hung on the breeze. Realized the bats must be on patrol, either to watch for the Animal Drug Coalition or actually working for said agency.

Come back. Boys sack out. We sit up and relax for the rest of the night.

Saturday June 24: Awake early and drive to Mountain View to enjoy an afternoon at the Ozark Folk Center. If you have never been you should make a vacation plan to go. This is where you will see people making items in shops using only the tools available to early settlers. There is a silversmith, a cooper, a broom maker, a doll and toy maker, candle, soap, and typesetting shop. There are also shows featuring folk singers and an instrument shop where you can learn how they make a dulcimer, a fiddle, guitar, banjo or dobro.

As we walked about the park the sky turned an ominous black and lightening began streaking across the sky. We decided to change our minds about attending the show and went inside the auditorium. Now the reason we weren't going to the show was because the performers were from St. Louis of all places. We headed to the country to escape St. Louis but it followed us there.

I have to say the show was absolutely INCREDIBLE!!! The performers were the St. Louis Irish Arts Company. A band of kids from ages 4 to 20 something. They played traditional Irish instruments, danced traditional dances and performed traditional songs.

Please don't get me wrong here. I happen to ADORE Irish/Celtic music. I had just planned on spending the day outside in the sun. The storm drove us inside and it was a real treat. When the emcee on the stage requested audience participation our friend didn't skip a beat. She tried to drag us up with her and when we wouldn't go she went up on her own. She looked like she was having the time of her life! I regretted not joining her.

After the show the rain had let up and we headed off for dinner at Jo Jos Catfish Wharf restaurant. I'm not a catfish eater but this place is situated on a lovely spot over looking the White River. It is such a great place and my friends had the best meal they could imagine. Jo Jos serves a pinto bean appetizer and a side of green tomato relish that you have to try to believe. I had NEVER mixed my food. I'm a freak in that I can't bear my food to touch. But I eat this combination the way it was intended. Scoop the relish out and place it on top of the beans then eat. The hushpuppies are also the greatest ever tasted. After dinner we went on a drive through Mt. View and I pretended to be lost so as to freak my friends out. Didn't work they saw right through me. It wasn't until I missed my turn that I felt a moment of uncertainty but then I found a second road and took the long way back to Big Flat.

The night drive was very interesting. The fog was so thick I couldn't see six inches ahead of my headlights. Boys became unhappy, the friends became unnerved so I had to try and turn around. If you have never been on highway 341 that runs from Mountain Home to highway 14 in Big Flat then you won't know what I'm talking about. Lets just say that the curves are a bit of a challenge in the best of conditions. They aren't nearly as bad as the more than one doze S curves but it was still hard to turn around. I did however manage, thanks to my amazing driving skills. We'd just turned when a large doe stopped on the road in front of me then leapt across the guardrail. Thank goodness I was only doing 10 MPH at this point.

In the places where the fog wasn't as thick we were able to see a total of 7 deer and 4 frogs. There had actually been 5 frogs but umm well let's just say he got up close and personally with my front tire. Therefor he didn't count.

Came home crashed out.

Sunday June 24: our friend was going to have to leave and I had promised to take her ATVing and shooting. We got the ATVing in. But as we tried to go shooting the sky clouded over and rain began to fall. Our friend decided to leave earlier than planned. We helped her load up, hugged and planned our next get together coming up in 2 weeks actually. We’re having our own card party. (And deer are NOT invited.)

Anyway while it rained we set the kids down with the DVD player in one room to watch a movie while best friend and I sat in the living room with the second DVDS player and watched a movie of our own (Harvey with Jimmy Stewart. Black and white classic film. If you have not seen it rudh out and get a copy to view today. Right now. I'll wait!) By the time we were done the sky brightened, the sun shone and we decided to laod the guns into the back rack of my ATV and ride to the field for shooting. When we arrived the sky darkened and the wind picked up a God-awful smell. A combination wet dog, and dirty gym socks. Since I was unsure of what the smell was I suggested we might consider returning to the trailer for a afternoon plan reevaluation. (Now if any of you have seen Bruce Almighty you will recall the scene where Bruce asks for signs yet he ignores them all.)I felt this way. I mean it surely had to be a sign that we weren't supposed to enjoy our planned activities, right?

We rode by my grandparents place and stopped to ask them what the smell might have been. I found them in their garden (a huge lovely place) and asked them what they thought it might be. They didn't know. I rode back to the house behind them when my grandfather stopped and grinned. Sour feed, he told us. The feed bin had been torn up and the feed had leaked out and the soured, the rain mixed with it to form the horrid smell. He also told us he'd moved a herd of cattle into the field so that we knew not to leave the gate open and not to go shooting in there…Signs…

Put guns away. Sun returns we go ATVing. I hit a deep ditch rather fast and my thumb slams back into my wrist. In massive amounts of pain. Despite the lack of swelling and bruising I'm almost convinced its broken. Being the woman I am I suck it up and ride on. We come across a long black snake slithering across the path and into the woods. Have to remember to tell BF to stop begging to see something. Next time it may not be as harmless.

Went on our night drive. Saw several more deer, a couple more bats, an owl, a raccoon. Went home and went to bed.

Monday June 25: Our last day. Sadness filled me as I thought about the fact that we would be leaving but we still had the entire day so we went swimming at Big Creek. We are the only ones there. I LOVE it when I/we have the entire creek alone. The boys begin splashing when a movement near rocks across the creek catches my eye. The large creature turns to us and his mouth gapes open. The cotton white color inside sets my nerves on edge. “Come back out to the bank,” I call as I try to remain calm.

See I don't care what the nature channels say, the cottonmouths in that neck of the woods are mean enough to actually chase you just to bite you. The kids and BF rush on to the bank and I watch as the white mouths creature joins a second one inside a rock opening. I stand watching while the kids hover and the snake glides out on the water and swims away from us upstream. This cottonmouth is a brown gray color, not black. (I've only ever seen black cottonmouths before. These black ones were extremely aggressive and had to be shot. They did indeed chase after us to try and bite us. We never went fishing down at the pond without a gun along.) and doesn't seem to feel threatened by us. I keep on snake patrol while trying to convince the kids its okay to come back onto the water. They refuse. I scan the area. I've lost sight of our friend. Suddenly I feel something poke my leg. I scream and jump. Turning around to face my friend and to let her know which hospital to take me to, all while I am trying to ascertain the damage to my ankle.

My BF's oldest boy is sitting on the bank laughing. He had found a cane pole and poked me with it. I became furious and threatened him with death as I run out of the water. Snake is gone. I have seen no sign.

I finally decided enough is enough. I jump in and enjoy swimming while avoiding the snake area and keeping a watchful eye. Kids and BF are concerned for my sanity. I assure them all is safe and finally they dive in...well wade in. Then the youngest has to go to the bathroom. I point out all the trees. This doesn’t suit him. I sigh dramatically and leave BF and the oldest at the creek while I drive the kid to gas station two miles up the road.

Come back to play and the oldest whines about being hungry and can we leave. Now I'm getting angry. I've gone out of my way to make sure I take them to do all the things they have wanted to do. I've endure fighting, name calling, sass attitudes, the one thing I want is to swim.

Finally I agree to drive them home to eat on the condition we return afterward. They agree. We pack up when two women and four kids drive up. I tell them about the snake. She tells me her husband was chased by a black one near that point. I nod in understanding. She keeps kids near at hand while we make our way out.

Have lunch and the kids want to go ATVing instead of swimming. I'm getting upset. Am I selfish? Probably. Do I care? Not really. I go sit on the porch and debate whether or not I'm actually going to give them the keys. They come out a little while later and ask to go back to the creek. I'm thrilled. Load up, drive down. The creek is now full...about 12 people. This to me is 12 too many. But I still jump in and swim to my hearts content.

Take the kids back. Feed them dinner. Go on night drive. Come across another skunk. I get rather close and my BF makes jokes about scaring the skunk and getting sprayed. Of course the paint would peel off the car (joking) and then not only would my husband make jokes about my thumb injury (which is still hurting like hell) he will complain about the missing paint.

Bedtime.

Tuesday June 26: Get up, load up head out. Drive through rainstorms so thick I can't see the car in front of me until he turns on his hazard lights. Finally arrive at BFs home, drop her and the kids off. Come home. Tell DH he is going to have to unload truck for me, my thumb is still screaming in pain. He makes joke. Bad joke. “Of course you're hurt. You've been to Arkansas” This is not funny. I review my past visits.

I have come home with my knee blown out and needing surgery. I have come home with a broken ankle, a sprained ankle, a sprained wrist, poison ivy, a cold, the flu, broken fingers. Sure. Those are all true. But I've been going there for xxx (you think I’m telling you my age?!?!?!) years and those are the only injuries I've had. Of course they've all been in the last 19 years. I've been married for 19 years...I can see why he thinks that...

Anyway. So that is how I spent my summer vacation. Thank you and good evening!


See you all again soon.

Huggles,
Donica