The thing about country life after the city is that its peaceful; you can see the stars at night, the air's cleaner, there aren't so many cars, you can hear the birds sing and - the dogs bark. A lot, loudly, all the time, in my neighbour's back yard from around 6 a.m. when their pit bull brains are woken up by the Rooster, until around midnight when they're so exhausted by barking that they crash out.
It's an issue here and God fearing folk are taking deperate measures - as you can see, some have opted for poison, which is tempting. Others suggest sniping with .22, also tempting but risky - who wants to end up in gaol for performing a public service? Others again feel that a Taser might do the trick. Well it probably would but I don't have one.
Whatever, it drove me out into the fields where I managed to stay on the horse, so that was good and even better - MCP has made a song which you might like to watch/hear. Its about the honesty of Great Britain's politicians http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ImmQO3YOaw
These it seems have sunk into a trough of eighteenth century style jobbery, corruption and malfeasance; just throw in piracy on the high seas and the illusion's near complete. Oh, we have that too! So what's missing? "Talent" says my supernaturalist friend and Church Warden, Alan Delgarde.
Maybe, but ah, the dogs are silent. At last. Never underestimate the power of prayer.
LSP
13 comments:
I have a neighbor and I have acres, as do they, but unfortunately...our houses were both planted somewhat close to each other geographically.
Neighbor has a heeler that gets all barky at night (right in the side of my house, it feels to me). My heeler passed on but I have a Border Collie that goes barky if given the chance so I rein her in if she isn't working and it's outside of barking hours.
Deputy friend suggested .22 or poisoning but I LIKE DOGS and it's not their fault mom and dad human would put her out to be bored and at times cold or hot at 3am.
I spoke to them and we sorted things out and they re-did a bit of fencing inside their fencing of their property so that I don't end up with her howling at the side of my home and causing my Border to sympathetically howl back from inside my house.
We went back and forth on things but managed to sort it out without anybody having a dog killed.
I didn't buy acres to have to put up with obnoxious people that neglected their animals and they decided they didn't want to fight me. All worked out without a judge or a jury.
I'll admit to executing a rooster once but it was fair play considering the neighbor attitude at the time.
Cheers from a bit South of you in Tejas.
tom
Had to add this for amusement value, as of your position:
My two best friends growing up, one is an Episcopal Priest, one is a Pentecostal Minister, and then I come from a family with Evangelical United Brethren Ministers on one side and Rabbis on the other...and go to a Southern Baptist Church.
Makes me the oddball I am, no doubt.
If you ever make it down this way, I'm not sure about Anglican churches, but I know stables and places to shoot and hunt hogs if given advanced notice. I actually know a pretty good place to hunt hogs not that terribly far from your "yankee" part of Texas (friend's family's farms).
Commercial rich people's stables down the road from me but I have mixed feelings about clientelle as there are a lot of yuppies and such. Not my crowd.
Take care,
tom
I used to have the same problem in a block i lived in, an angry swaggering old man with a viscous Alsatian lived on the ground floor, one night a girl I knew at the time asked me why I let the dog wind me up so much - and then it hit me, the dogs behavior was a consequence of the owners attitude. The owner didn't realise how much his incivility was impacting. But he could, and he did.
Every week night I lowered a set of old house keys over the balcony on a fishing line and jangled them outside his door until the dog kicked off. Then came back and did it again, and again, and again.
Not big and not clever, but it made me feel better
SBW
I know - its mostly NOT the dog, its the humans and I'm with you, far better to get a solution to the real problem. ie. get the humans to look after their animals properly. Not always easy...
I like dogs too! Roosters? Fair game.
Love the key story SBW!
Tom - it'd be great to meet up some time to go up against the hogs and have fun. Yuppies & commercial stables sound a bit 'Dallas' to me - still, I guess its good money for the owners and employment for horse people...
Enjoying riding; its a new thing for me.
God bless,
LSP
Forgot to say - Boomers blog = outstanding.
LSP
Yeah, stables is kinda Dallas and Hollywood-ish for the Texas Hill Country...Rest of us out here are middle middle class or a bit below.
Friend's wife ended up working with Sheryl Crow and her horse and making some tack for her and she sounded apologetic when she told me about having done the work and that she wasn't "her kind of people", but it was work :-)
I was guessing you were DFW area-ish and I'm unincorporated Hays county, but I know places to hunt hogs up in Cass County by you to the east, over by Fredericksburg, Del Rio, and in the Bastrop and College station areas.
Depends on season (because some are hunting leases as well as working farms and ranches) as to if I'm allowed to go out and play H&H Mag pistol vs hogs.
Could be entertaining and glad you like my occasionally vulgar, but mostly good natured internet playing. Pentecostal friend sometimes hammers me on a point of the bible or my sailorish method of speaking from working in mechanical shops and music venues and then I remind him the first time he had sex, it was with Wendy (helps to remember the name for emphasis that I remember) in the back seat of my old Mercury V-8 when we were driving around many an eon ago. Shuts him right up and we move on to a different topic :-)
Sheryl Crow - what a character. Her hat is particularly good...
Your guess is on; I was in Dallas for a time after Calgary, of all places, and chernobyl marital breakdown. In Hill County now, not far from "Willy's Place". Parishioners are farmers/ranchers, for the most part, a few big but mostly small.
H&H Mag Vs. the common enemy sounds good - would love to join you in the pursuit. And, of course, as things open up here I'll keep you posted.
Viz. religion: have to share church with a group of 'gaychurch' liberals - I'll spare the details but... one of their clergy left a sermon in the sacristy saying, "Cattle are driven from the rear, by Cowboys on horses, hooting and cracking whips!"
I shared this with some of the people and one by one they began to comment, "Is that how you do it George?" "What about you, Ronnie?" "I always use a pick up!" etc. So I guess my point is, don't worry about using down to earth language - far less offensive than some of the risable gibberish that pretends to be christian.
Must get SBW out here and onto the hogs...
LSP
I used to live about 6 miles by crow from "Willy's" place/golf course/studio and am not THAT much further by air now, but by roads it's a bit of a hike as nothing cuts much between 71 and 290 that isn't private roads on ranches...If nothing else, we can meet up at the Chrome Cactus or Hill Country Cupboard or some such.
I used to be house soundman for years for Poodie's (I'm sure you know about where that is) in my spare time and I don't like revisiting that area as I don't do bars anymore. Was a boat mechanic for rich people at various Lake Travis marinas too...and a sports car and Land Rover tech in Austin. Never have lived in Austin though. Closest I've ever lived was probably Lake Travis out west.
Now I'm back to being mostly a hermit with more room.
Invitation on pigs stands. Just give me a few weeks heads-up and I can arrange things. Can't guarantee times, but I could come close. I also have a rifle version of the HOG SLAYER for people who are faint hearted about shooting full bore loads in Encores. I've still only found one person (who helped me develop the concept) who's been willing to shoot the pistol three seven five, even with the light 235 grain rifle loads :-)
Welcome to the neighborhood.
Out of morbid curiousness, is your current posting in Austin or out by the lake or further? I never really noticed any Anglican or Episcopal churches this far out.
tom
Thanks for the welcome - know what you mean about bars - pubs in U.K. different matter.
I'm more Lake Whitney than Travis (other side of Waco), but not ridiculously far - (Willy's place here is at Carl's Corner, I suppose there's several).
Meeting up somewhere 1/2 way would be good.
Totally impressed by your Belloc post. Sharp man, H Belloc - spikey, but good.
LSP
One of the Fixtures at Carl's Corners is Rip Lorick. I was bass player in his band, semi-against my will, as I'm a guitarist, for a number of years. We grudgingly speak to each other at times. You know how that goes. As a singer songwriter guitarist, he got pissy when the "hired help" filled in while he went outside to "smoke" and people asked why I wasn't playing guitar for him with him playing rhythm guitar. Still good friends with some of the family band.
Clem Mikeska's might be a good in-between point in Temple some day? Wouldn't be too bad a drive either way.
Hog hunts are open, barring constraints as above. The better ones are around Cass county when I can arrange them. Feel free to google.
Cheers anyway.
My works and travels take me up and down 35 and 281, and the back roads and many others as well, and I know how to not starve when I'm not hunting and like barbecue :-) Mikeska's is always worthy of a visit if my travel is timed properly.
Tom
Mikeskas sounds good - let me know when you're up for it.
What brought to Belloc - I've been a fan for years.
Cheers.
Serendipity?
For sure & providence, perhaps.
Chesterton saw the same thing coming - not as analytical as his friend Belloc, I don't think. Belloc's crusades book's worth the read. Topical right now of course.
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