Two Screams; One Good……One Not So Good
Living in this valley a person can enjoy a quiet that cannot be duplicated in an urban setting. The quiet is not always as nice as it sounds. (No pun intended, I lied, I knew what I was writing.) Seriously, we can hear the neighbors yelling at their dogs and each other over a half mile away.
Sound really travels in this valley. It can be life saving. Like the time when our neighbor had a little too much to drink and thought it might be a good time to go for a walk in the snow. Seems he got a little disoriented and got lost. He stopped walking about a couple miles from his house and started yelling for help. Another neighbor heard him yelling about a half mile away. Good Samaritan neighbor picked up Mr. Jack Daniels (not real name) returned him to his home. Jack was shivering controlling and most likely would have died. (Not making this up, folks)
Oh yeah, then there was the time a neighbor went to town, leaving a sixteen year old exchange student home to watch the dogs. Not that it matters to the story but I’m going to name the breeds of the dogs. One American Bulldog, one English Bulldog, one German Shepard. All purebreds and quality breeds.
I happened to be outside working on fence. Yes, I always have fence to work on. I thought I heard a dog fight and a person in pain. I went inside to ask Elaine to come outside and confirm I was hearing what I was hearing. Elaine confirmed the sound.
I jumped in the truck and flew over to the neighbors. I found the neighbors living room and dogs covered in blood. Thank God, it was dog blood. The dogs had finished tearing each other up. They were looking at me. For whatever reason they did not come after me. The young lady had tried to separate them. She received a pretty bad bite on her arm.
That was the last day on the planet for those dogs. (Not making this up, folks)
So, that was two examples of how sound travels and how it can be a good thing.
Now, I need to tell the story of two screams that happened in this valley in a 12 hour period.
As we have chatted before, Ivy is raising chickens. It seems her chickens are old enough to lay eggs. Just ask any of our neighbors!
We arrived home after dark. Elaine and I were feeding the alpacas, llamas and yaks. Ivy was tending her chickens. Somewhere in the dark, Elaine and I heard a ear-splitting scream coming from the chicken coop. I started running towards the coop. Out of the darkness came Ivy running full speed towards us with an egg in her hand. I guess she was happy, the neighbors, not so much.
The next scream was mine. And you know how I like to tell stories about myself. except for this one.
The next morning after the egg scream, I watched my lovely wife of 35 years back her car into my truck breaking her taillight. I screamed construction language. Just ask the neighbors. I don’t know why she loves me.
Our crazy lives!
Monner