I am and always be a country girl. Although I have been living in Milwaukee for 3 years I still have my good ol' country instincts. Sure I love being able to go shopping without having to drive 2 hours but I miss the free things about living out of the city.
For example....
After it rains it so fun to jump in the puddles and not have to worry about toxins going in your system. One of my fondest memories is making "mud boots" with my grandma, brother, and cousins. We ran around barefoot and had mud caked up to out knees then had a water fight afterwards.
Last fishing opener my family met up at the "palace"(a run down trailer house). We all met up there and gathered into boats and sat for hours, on the lake of many lost belongings, as the "moms" gathered stuff for lunch. When we got back we sat and talked by the fire while we cooked random grill food. Then, it started hailing so we went inside the trailer and played cards. I remember sitting by the door with my cousins looking at all of the chunks of ice that accumulated. When the storm passed we went outside and all of the grass was covered so the ground looked white instead of the green it was an hour earlier. We went back outside and next thing we know our family is having a hail fight. We all were bruised and muddy from running and falling as well as getting pelted with ice chunks that were an inch in diameter. It was fun and I have never laughed that hard. It was really funny seeing my grandma get in on the action for a while too. lol. Eventually everybody got tired and went their separate ways.
One day while J and I were skipping the last couple periods of high school we decided to go to my house and go fishing. Before I go on let me just explain that I am more of a man than he will ever be; I had to show him how to bait a hook and take a fish off. Anywho, so I gathered up some poles and put it in the back of the truck and decided to do a little mudding before we went back to the lake. It was fun...until I got stuck 300 feet away from the lake. While J freaked out about what we were going to do, I went and got the boards out of the back of the truck and got us unstuck. I am a pro at this now. We left the truck and went fishing in my sweet rowboat. I put all the stuff in and then J got in and I had to push us out and my foot got stuck in the mud. So, one foot was in the boat while the other was stuck in the mud. It hurt, legs are not supposed to bend that way. Eventually I pulled out my foot and got in the boat and continued with fishing, muddy foot and all.
Most parties become official when there is a bonfire. Somehow the burning of brush helps celebrate anything from graduations to the New Year. My dad and his brother even have competitions to see who can have the biggest pile. Haha. I think my uncle won this year because you could see the flames from the end of the driveway.
According to pop culture a person is considered a hick if they ride tractors, have graveyards of cars in their yards, or have massive collections of shit out front. Man its like they are talking about my family!
At my house, we have several broken down tractors, trucks, and cars by our house. I could take a picture and the caption could be "you know your a redneck if". Although our lawn has car graveyards and piles of construction stuff, it is big enough where it looks better than it sounds.
Actually, "the farm" would be much more fitting for the caption. The farm is my great grandparents house, which is now owned by my grandma. When you first go in the driveway, you will be greeted by cows on the right, an old house and a two story tree fort on the right, further to the right is the new house, and straight ahead are the "junk barns" with collections of old tires out front. Don't worry though, there is also random junk spread in the field with the cows. LOL.
Oh but the memories that come from all this junk!
Some of the fondest memories I have are of this place. Here I fed baby calves, chased cows by foot and on a three wheeler, got chased by a bull, made tree forts, and had old tractor races. Also, the barns were where I did a lot of my shopping as a kid. My grandpa would go to auctions, yard sales, and so on. Each time he would bring back truck loads of stuff and put them in the barns. After he would bring a load home my cousins and I would "go shopping". I laugh at this now but it was an adventure when I was little. If my friends knew all of these details I am pretty sure I would get made fun of for being such a hick. Haha.
Before I moved to Milwaukee I was a plaid shirt and ill-fitted jeans kind of girl. I even created "trucker Tuesday" as an excuse to "scrub it" and not shower and wear a plaid shirt. Also, I never did anything to my hair. Shocking considering these day it changes every week. I was a tom-boy in some sorts. Now I always have to have an outfit in order to go on with my day. I can't go without jewelry. I get depressed if I can't go to Target one a week. I wear skirts and dresses. I have more purses than I count and I have to match them to my outfit. I also can't go a day without lip gloss and mascara. Even though I am more of a girly girl than before somehow I remain low maintenance because of my raising. If I can't straighten my hair in the morning, it isn't the end of the world. I still love doing all of my "country" activities and I am going to miss them now that I will be permanently living in Milwaukee.
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