# 445 - Country Security Lights & More

We've been in the RV on the acreage, living in the country full-time for 18 days now! So much has happened since we closed on our house...

Our favorite hats to wear in the sun on the land.
A bit worn, but just as comfortable!

The past few weeks have been completely crazy and chaotic; the busy lifestyle is not coming to an end any time in sight.

At least we're older and know that each step involved in starting a full-time life on rural acreage requires patience or you'll kill yourself. Our lives have changed, dramatically, yet for the better. Here is the view from my front porch these days:

At night, since the generator is no longer running in the distance, I can really hear all the nightlife. It's odd because I have been long accustomed to hearing sirens and traffic close by. And we don't hardly ever see or hear an aircraft fly overhead, which is really strange because we've always lived in airspace that has a flight path overhead, or we live near an airport, or an Air Force base with jet strip and hush-house nearby. For those who have never heard of a "hush-house," it's basically a massive building where the jet engines are worked on and TESTED. Through all these years, I've not found anything to which I can compare this noise.

The other day, on a stroll through the land, my dad and I came across some century trees on the side of our property that I've always loved. I was greatly saddened to see that one of them was in the midst of death throes. Dad immediately recognized the variety and said, "That's a Cottonwood...how strange to see that here," and he looked around through the forest to not find another and remarked, "...look at the bark and you'll see it's a Cottonwood."

Here is a recent shot of my dad and my brother since my dad has lost all hair and mustache due to chemo treatments. Notice the words on my dad's shirt. Enough said.

I kept my distance from the massive branches of this Cottonwood that were hanging by a toothpick and noticed the smooth, beautiful bark, so different from the oaks that towered nearby. I will hopefully go for a walk tomorrow to post pictures, we've had torrential rains on and off yesterday, so outside activities were limited.

Future cook-out and picnic table area. Chickens are about to moved, I think.

And I almost hit the RV ceiling during storms yesterday that sounded as if thunder passed through our bodies and lightening hit directly outside our windows.

Anyway, I decided that this Cottonwood tree, even though it is dying, would have its branches and trunk used for various projects. It's too beautiful to burn. However, I have no idea how we will manage such a massive tree needing to come down, especially without it causing a person great danger or damaging the trees surrounding it. I have taken many pictures of this tree through the years, so I am saddened to see it wither and die. Stay tuned, I will hopefully get a picture of this tree within the next couple of days.

Here is another tree that has fallen, this one is a good size, but much smaller than the Cottonwood that is still holding its ground, yet clearly dead. The one in the photo below has moss growing on it as well as ferns, such as you'd see in a rain forest. The eco-system here is AMAZING!

On that day of my dad's most recent visit, I had been planning on mowing a bit of the acreage while my husband was at work, but as my dad drove off, he asked me to please not mow until my husband was home. I was a sneaky kid at heart as I promised, reluctantly, to not mow...that DAY. Since I've been kept so busy in the RV with box after box and with rearranging and continual setting up, then with going through all the arrangements for crews every day, I'm often relegated to the business/boring side of our lives. However, I honored my dad and did not get on the biggest Cub Cadet on the market, actually a cross between a mower and tractor, a hybrid of sorts, hence the name "lawn-tractor."

After Sgt. Dave got home that afternoon, he hopped on the lawn-tractor and as he got going a couple of acres from the RV, he experienced one of the large tires rolling straight off, yet he was strong enough to not topple over. I might not have been so fortunate, especially since my upper strength is not the same.

I guess my dad was operating on a sixth sense because he never asks me to NOT do something. Glad I listened.

So, finally, on Wednesday morning of this week, we had our electricity connected after the local power company ran lines from their poles to ours. I can't even tell you how much I wanted to jump up in down in celebration! No more generator!

You can see two of our security lights in this shot, coming on at dusk.

Since we now have television, electricity and water-hose connection to water a few acres away, I feel somewhat civilized! At least we don't feel as if we're camping any longer.

You can see Howdy in the distance, doing his nightly barking routine.

Another bonus has been the three security lights that we had installed which run on sensor so I don't have to worry about turning them on and off. At dusk, around 8:30pm, they come on, and they go off automatically at the break of dawn.

Every night, Howdy runs outside to do a weird ritual and I was able to capture him in the light of one of the security lights as he charges outside to stand puffed out while giving a few "manly" barks. I guess he feels compelled, perhaps its part of the guard dog in his breed that feels the need to give a warning good-night bark to local critters.

I wish he could have scared this booger out of my RV bedroom, but between a can of Raid and my broom, I triumphed without any stings!

I am glad to have this extra lighting, and we will be adding more throughout the property, mostly motion-detector kind of lights.

As for missing the things I cannot see as easily, I especially miss my sister! She's a doll!

And here's a picture taken by my talented brother-in-law of my sister and my niece. My sissy Robin and her daughter, my niece, Shaye, they fill my heart with beauty!

I can't wait to show Shaye around the country! She's never been here and we're working on a plan for a special visit very soon! We've talked about our place in the country, but I don't think she'll be able to imagine it until she steps foot in the woods! I know she will be gasping with awe and ready to explore! She's a nature-loving kind of gal!

But, we've got the Disney Channel...just in case.