This October we will have lived in our house in South Haven for 10 years. It seems like time has flown by. Both boys are now in middle school and our daughter graduated Annandale High School in 2011. When we moved here I was not worried about nature as I thought growing up in Schroeder had prepared me for just about anything.
We had bears in our garbage cans, moose walking up the road and deer just about everywhere we drove. Well, I have been thrown a few curve balls in the last 10 years!
It started with me opening the front door that first October day to about three million Asian beetles. I called my husband in a panic and told him the previous owner had failed to disclose an infestation! The neighbors laughed and told me, “Welcome to country living!”
Next my 4-year-old son Jack excitedly brought two live snakes into the house. One in each hand. My mom was on the phone with me and said I needed to lay a few ground rules with the boys. Really, mom? There are two live snakes in my house and you want to talk to me about ground rules!
A few weeks later an eagle snatched a baby rabbit out of our front yard. I ran screaming at it with a broom but he just gave me the mean eagle eye and flew over my head with his “catch of the day.”
Don’t even get me started on the raccoons and their love of hummingbird juice. They drink it down like it’s a fine wine. Somehow we have survived it all with tolerance and a sense of humor.
I thought I was the only one coping with my renewed country living until I met a new lady at my book club the other night. Her stories left me laughing and thankful my nature experiences had been relatively mild.
She said one night a teenage son came home late and let the dog out. Instead of waiting for the dog to come back in, he left the front door open. Yup, you guessed it…they found a skunk in the living room. Quietly they coaxed the skunk towards the door and just as it was on its way out….the dog came in and chased it through the entire house, spraying a trail of scent as it went! Professional cleaners couldn’t even get it all out. Months later if they opened a CD case or picked up a glass in the cupboard the smell would greet them with a musty, skunky “Hello.”
She also shared a story of her husband waking her at night telling her one of the kids was calling for her. She checked on all three and found them sleeping so she went back to bed. Her husband woke her again telling her one of the boys needed her so she checked again. All were still asleep. The third time her husband woke her she said, “You go check on them.” He said, “But they are calling …Mooom.” They both sat up and listened. It was a cow in the field outside!
We enjoy our country living and wouldn’t trade it for anywhere else in the world but nature can sure give you a surprise every now and then. Some good country advice: If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin’.
Taste of Home columnist Sandy (Anderson) Holthaus lives on a farm in South Haven, MN with her husband, Michael, and their children Zoe, Jack and Ben. Her heart remains on the North Shore where she grew up with her parents, Art and LaVonne Anderson of Schroeder. She enjoys writing about her childhood and mixes memories with delicious helpings of home-style recipes.
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