Mar
29
2014
The wild turkey exploded from our right across our car right in front of us flying five feet off the ground flapping his wings wildly and just as quickly disappeared into the undergrowth. This was unusual: when I flush a turkey it scurries quickly by foot out of my sight. Not this time. We live on the edge of country. You just never know when you will flush one or more when you are driving your car.
Jul
12
2012
The two does stared at me for a long second or two and then vanished into the woods. One had crossed the road ten feet away and the other was on my right five feet in the woods. They had come from the direction of the neighboring farm.
What was unusual was the spot I saw them in: in nine years this was only the third deer I had seen in this large tract of woods (several acres) adjacent to my property.
I was glad I wasn’t driving too fast. I live on the edge of country. Further down a big black bird was in the middle of the road. It turned out to be the common turkey vulture. They feast on all the roadkill along with the crows and the other scavengers.
Jun
30
2012
It was the first time I have ever seen two turtles at one time in this area. They were separated by almost a foot and both were in a straight line facing the road diagonally. I saw them from my car and both were a foot or two from the curb. They were about five inches long and almost the same size. I never know exactly what I will see the at the edge of country.
Jun
6
2012
I am not my diagnosis. I could state it but it does not matter. I am a man who loves all kinds of music, writes poetry, letters and other things. I love nature particularly the birds I attract with all my feeders. I am married to a woman I love who is not quite the same but loves a lot of the same things particularly music from the same era. She is not perfect but close. We both love to read and I have more books in my house that I ever had before. She loves mysteries. I don’t. But our tastes in books and music is very eclectic. Music and books are all over the house. She usually lets me be. I am not as good as her in that regard and sometimes have to learn to be quiet. We have our own space in our house. I love the mountains, the lakes and ocean. So does she. We live on the edge of country. I am all these things and more. I am not my diagnosis I have to state again. That is just an artificial artifact. The doctors need that and my insurance. That is the only purpose of my diagnosis. It is not me.
May
20
2012
I saw my first baby groundhog. In fact, there were four of them and they were scurrying to vanish into the undergrowth. They were tiny–maybe six inches long. I spotted then on my way home. I never know exactly what I will see driving home. Sometimes it is a wild turkey, a fawn or doe. I never know. It is usually when I am not paying attention. I am on the edge of country.
Feb
20
2012
Three deer bounded across the road right in front of me coming from the large meadow. They must have been holed up in the tract of woods adjacent to my property. It was an unusual spot to see deer. Though there were deer tracks in the snow in my driveway a few weeks ago. In the eight years I have only seen two deer here. The three deer looked like they were fawns not yet completely grown. Hunting season was long past. They were heading toward the farmland and the forest beyond. I was just surprised to see them here so close to my property. There are other animals in the vicinity but they usually stay out of our view. The juxtaposition of animals with civilization has always fascinated me. And we are on the edge of country. You just never know what you are going to see.
Jul
29
2011
We have been home (from the Jersey Shore) less than 24 hours and what I most appreciate is the quiet here. All I hear here is the ?crickets or is it the ?cicadas. And the occasional “whoosh” of a car passing nearby.
The bed and breakfast we stayed at for three nights was on a busy road. It was very difficult to make a left hand turn. It was only a block away from the ocean. New Jersey just had too many people.
For some reason I become very unsettled in crowded areas. It is not my fault. I just do. I will appreciate my house better. It is not on a main fare. I watch the birds come to and fro my feeders all day. Especially the hummingbirds who never fail to delight me.
There is a reason mental hospitals always were situated in the country. They used to be called rest homes. Many years ago the array of medications to treat mental illness did not exist.
People who had nervous breakdowns were sent to hospitals in the countryside to recuperate and recover. There is nothing like the calm found in nature to do so.
I will appreciate my home better. It is just a relief to be here. My trip to the Jersey shore reminded me how fortunate I am to be on the edge of country.
Nov
17
2010
I have always lived at the edge of country. Of course, some people are more divorced from it if they are surrounded by concrete but it is always there you just have to look a little harder.
Growing up I watched my mother plant vegetables and flowers and other things. We had a mulberry and fig and apricot tree and some of the biggest blackberries I have ever seen.
It was a small plot of land but she tilled it well. We had fresh string beans and tomatoes. She loved roses. The garden was a place she could disappear in. And she often did for hours.
We lived in a bustling little city but that garden we had was an introduction to many things. I learned to love deep red stemmed roses.
On weekends my father brought us into the country, mountains and shore but most of my life I lived in the edge of country. I learned to appreciate what came my way.
Today I still love birds. I have several bird feeders that I can view from our large living room windows and watch a steady parade of chickadees and titmouse and woodpeckers just to name a few.
It all started in Mom’s garden and the weekend trips we took as a family. I learned to love the mountains and trees and lakes and and so many other things.
Jun
10
2009
I have fallen in love with Central Pennsylvania especially the county I live in–Perry County. It is God’s country if you allow me to be that presumptuous. There is open space here. Farms, valleys and two major rivers, the Susquehanna and the Juniata, lay here.
The ride up the Juniata valley on Route 322 literally takes my breath away: it is so beautiful. Closer to home, every time I drive into town I want to capture its beauty on film of the view offered from the hill of the Susquehanna River and its valley crisscrossed by various small islands.
I live on the edge of country. From my window I watch the birds come to and fro my feeders. I was thrilled yesterday when I saw an indigo bunting alight on the ground.
We have had bears raid our bird feeders several times. In fact, this state is second in the nation for bear hunting. The smallmouth bass fishing from the two Rivers is superb. I never forgot my first trips up the Rivers on a airboat. It was like entering a world I had no idea even existed.
There is so much beauty here and people who have lived here all their lives do not always fully appreciate it. I do. I grew up near NYC where there were not too many open spaces.
We are less than an hour away from Hershey and Harrisburg, maybe three hours from NYC and Baltimore. It is the best of two worlds. I do not take this beauty here for granted. The neighboring counties are running out of land to build on.
I would like Perry County to remain in an unspoiled state as much as possible for the next generation and subsequent ones. Perry County is a treasure I would like others to experience.
Apr
9
2009
I live in paradise. My house is on the edge of the country. There is a farm a quarter of a mile away. 
Within a mile a family has chickens, goats, and horses. I love seeing the baby goats when they are so tiny.
The view from my large living room window is another portal into paradise. I watch a steady stream of birds come into my view. Birds I have never seen anywhere appear at my feeders like the magnificent red bellied woodpecker. About once a year I see the exotic fifteen-inch red crested piliated woodpecker although it is far more likely I hear its wild cackle first.
We even had a brush or two from the local black bear who now stays away. Our four dogs who now are enclosed by a large wooden picket fence now frighten him away.
There is so much beauty here and sometimes I do not see it. I forget I grew up in the city–a large town. I can see cottontails play outside from my kitchen window. My two friends, a couple I have know for years, are going to visit us next week from NYC. To them this is wild country.
I now have to view the land from their standpoint, change my perspective. It is too easy to become blind to your surroundings. Somehow I need to lift the veil that has grown in front of me and again see the beauty around me.
I had fallen in love with Central Pa. I knew things had changed when once I was coming back from NJ (where I had lived for the past two decades) and I thought, “I am coming home”. It is paradise here and I have to remind myself of that fact. Every time I drive up the Juanita Valley, my breath is taken away by its magnificent view of the River and its surrounding mountains. Even closer to home, when I drive into town from the back way and peer down into the Susquehanna River Valley, I can easily imagine I am viewing the fjords of Norway. The universe is in my own backyard. All I have to do is open my eyes. It’s here. I do not have to travel to Maine, Alaska or Hawaii. It is all here. Paradise.
Copyright © 2009 - Siggy's Blurbs: Siggy's Edge of Country … | Entries (RSS) | Comments (RSS)
WordPress theme by 
9th sphere website design