Sometimes one just has to get away from things for a couple of days or even just a couple of hours. I believe it’s a necessity for everyone to de-stress in a completely different environment from time to time.
Sometimes it’s work, for others it may be bills or family issues. Some may have more serious things going on. At any rate, if at all possible, getting out of your normal environment can do wonders to boost the morale. My daughter and I had a chance to get out into the country for a couple of days and it was so nice to get out of the city, away from the stress. The drive was great. We drove with the windows down and the music blasting. Just relaxing and enjoying the scenery. I love the city, but it does get to be too much at times. Being in the countryside means getting away from the noise and lights.
Without the city lights the stars were so bright. The silence so much more complete without the constant dull roar of traffic and city noise. It was just the sound of crickets and the breeze rustling through the trees. Where I live, there’s alway some lights. Maybe not in my immediate area but definitely from the major roads and businesses close by. Out there in the countryside, it seemed even darker. Maybe it just seemed that much darker when it was completed with the absence of city noises also.
Did you know that you can actually see spiders at night? Heh, I was told to take a flashlight and shine it across the yard. Mind you, I was standing in the middle of said yard at the time of this “said experiment”… Anyway, I shone the flashlight across the yard. They were telling me to look for the shining diamond-like dots. I looked and saw all sorts of white things floating in the air. Pollen, dust and such. Okay, fine. so I see them. No biggie.
“No, no… You’re not looking at the right things.” I was told. “Look on the ground. There are glittering white dots all across the ground, not the pollen and such floating in the air.”
Again, I took the flashlight and really focused on the ground. I found them, hundreds of glittering, pin-pricks of white lights. Some were constant while others blinked on and off. “Okay, I see them,” I said. “What are they?”
“Spiders.”
Uh…. what??? Here I am standing in the middle of the yard and you’re telling me these pin-pricks of lights are spiders?? Not cool at all. “Seriously? or are you just trying to creep me out?”
To prove it, they took me over to the closest diamond glittering light and shone the light directly on the ground. Yep, sure enough there was a spider there. Apparently their eyes reflect the light if you shine it right on them. Once I saw exactly what those glittering lights represented, being out in the middle of the field didn’t seem so enticing anymore. I was quite ready to head inside. They thought it was amusing to see my daughter and mine’s reaction to this, that’s fine. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a city girl. Just get me away from these spiders. I was still fascinated by the whole picking them out just by shining a light at them only I prefer to do it from inside or some other safer spot rather than standing right there in the field among them.
The next day we spent some time among the chickens. They were the cutest things. My daughter fell in love with them. There was a rooster and his harem of chickens. I was so amused just watching them in the yard. The rooster really does watch over his ladies. He crows an awful lot though. Seriously, if I had to live with that every single day, I’d be so annoyed with him. I don’t though. So, I can actually enjoy watching him and his constant crowing.
You can see him here, crowing away…
And if you mess with his ladies, he gets quite upset. It was absolutely hilarious to watch. We were warned that he can be quite aggressive. That if he feels that you are messing around with his harem. Yes, I like to call it his harem because it just feels right to me. Here you have a lone male surrounded by a bunch of females. He protects them and warns them of what he feels may be impending danger. The funniest part was when he decided to chase my daughter. She was warned that he could get aggressive. “Okay fine” was her answer. It didn’t stop her from going out and trying to catch one of the chickens. Well, he had enough of her messing with his ladies and decided to give her a little charge. She skipped away and he stopped. Eh, she thought, no biggie. She didn’t view him as much of a threat. And headed back in among the chickens again. He charged her again. She started trotting away from him. This time he kept coming. We were standing over on the edge of the yard yelling at her to run and run faster. She looked behind her and he was actually gaining on her. I saw her kick her running up a notch. She still didn’t look too worried. But the rooster was determined and was absolutely not stopping. I could see that he was right on her heels and she knew it for she could feel him behind her as she ran. He was just waiting for that right moment when he could lift up with his wings and attack her with his spurs. I think at this moment she really took him seriously and began sprinting. She was also yelling for help at this point. I have to say I was a horrible mother at that moment because I couldn’t stop laughing. It was so comical to see a creature significantly smaller than an adult sized person actually get so bold and aggressive. The only thing that saved her was the fact that she reached me and we had a dog on a leash with us. That rooster wasn’t going to mess around with a dog. At any rate, she’s got a little more respect for him now.
Here are some of his ladies…
My favorite… bouffant lady
This one was the matriarch of the chickens. She seemed to be the head female of the bunch
There were horses also
Don’t let things overwhelm you. When it gets difficult, try to find a way to get out. Go someplace different. Get into a new frame of mind. Something that will take you away from problems or aggravations to relax. This may seem silly to some but for me being around the chickens kind of took my mind off of everyday issues. Watching them run around the yard and interacting with each other was a way to escape. There were also three chicks and seeing how they had three chickens assigned to take care of each of those three chicks was precious. They would stay on the ground and close to the coop with them rather than up on the perch or out in the yard with the rest of them was just so amazing to watch.
I’m good now, more relaxed and ready to face the week ahead.
firelightdreams 