Do you hear that? That’s what I asked Mr. FixIt when I called him over to my camper. We were busy prepping her for her maiden voyage. (We leave today!) I was moving last minute things from the big camper to the little one. Mr. FixIt had just finished greasing the hubs. I was putting some things in a cabinet when I suddenly heard a faint beeping sound. It sounded like the alarm on a small electronic timer inside a suitcase. Faint…but discernible. I started my search.
I looked in every cabinet. I cocked my head this way and that trying to figure out where it came from. It definitely sounded like it was coming from the driver’s side of the camper…kind of near the refrigerator. I opened the fridge. Nope…not in there. I moved on to the bathroom. I could hear it still, but couldn’t find the source.
I went outside and that’s when I cornered Mr. FixIt.
“There’s a noise.”
“What kind of noise?”
“A beeping noise.”
“Ok. Where’s it coming from?”
“I don’t know! I’ve been looking everywhere and I can’t find it. Listen…do you hear that?”
Just then, a big truck came down the road.
“Nope.”
“Wait…just listen.”
Finally…he heard it, too!
“What the heck IS that?”
We walked all around the camper and determined it sounded like it was coming from the side where the refrigerator is. We went inside and checked the fuse box, the air conditioning, the refrigerator. I even got out the owner’s manual to see if there were some sort of alarm that had something to do with greasing the axles, since that’s the last thing we did before I heard it.
Nothing.
Then it stopped. Ten seconds later, it started again.
“Oh, my gosh! You know me with noises. That will drive me crazy. I have to find it!”
I went back outside and started walking around the camper in ever widening circles and suddenly, I could tell where it was coming from. It wasn’t the camper. It was something in the yard! I walked slowly, thinking maybe someone had dropped off a time bomb near our house. I got closer to the road and suddenly…a light bulb went off over my head.
I walked straight to the trash can and started rummaging around for the bag I had dropped in there earlier and came up with the culprit. The old smoke detector was going off because the trash can was getting hot in the noonday sun! Whew…case solved.
I moved on to the next job and brought some clothes out to the camper. Suddenly I heard Mr. FixIt. It sounded like a sneeze…but not quite. I stuck my head out of the camper and hollered.
“You ok?”
“Sneeze!”
“You sneezed?”
“Sneeze!!!!!”
“Ok, already….you sneezed. Jeez-o-Pete!”
“SNAKE!!!!!!!”
“Holy cats! WHERE????”
“It went under your smoker! Get the hoe.”
I grabbed the hoe…aka snake killer tool in West Virginia.
“What kind was it?”
“I think it was a copperhead!”
Ugh…poisonous.
“Ok…tip up the smoker.”
He did. And this two foot snake started squiggling around. We both jumped and the hoe came down before my brain could register it wasn’t a copperhead. I think it was a rat snake. I hated that I killed it. But, I did. Just like the turtle I ran over in the tall grass in the field later. I hated that, too. I tried to switch propane tank covers from one camper to the other. When I lifted up the cover, a bird flew out right in front of me and I about jumped out of my skin. A Jenny Wren had made a nest on top of the propane tank and there was a baby and a tiny egg in it so I quietly left it alone.
Living in the country is NOT for sissies!
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“I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine.” Psalm 50:11 NIV
And people think that it’s quiet and peaceful in the country!!! Best wishes for you and Mr. Fixit with your new camper!!!
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Men just don’t hear those noises we hear! But, the good ones listen to us! ??
Yes, they do! ❤️
No it’s not for sissies. When we lived in the country, friends said they didn’t realize how much death there is in the country…you pass road kill animals constantly and because you have more animals, you see more of them die than if you just have dogs and cats. We had two ducks, one got killed when a lawnmower that had been tilted up fell on it, another was taken by coyotes, all we found were feathers. We got a mother goat and baby from a rescue and they both died in I think 2 days-they had some illness I didn’t get diagnosed (too expensive to autopsy every animal that dies). Our male goat we had given to a friend at his request after having him for many years was extremely healthy when we gave him away and lived many years. Many others…chickens gotten by coyotes too. Each one is sad, each one there is usually nothing that could be done.
So true. ?
Country life is the best but interesting sometimes!
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My week started with a skunk beside the driveway and a black snake on the ridge pole of the garage. Living on the edge of town has its country challenges as well! Lol!
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