Cloudy, Rainy, Muggy

Okay, so I can't have starry nights with planets glowing in colors every night...but a week straight of this? Forecast says many hurricanes this year, so the residual storms will be coming up the pike straight for Central New York. Gotta deal, right? I remember when I first heard that saying. I was in Washington, D.C. with a bunch of St. Elizabeth students, all much younger but since I have always been caught in a 1960's time warp I never noticed, and a big water main broke in our neighborhood. The hotel had no water!! I mean NO water. We were going to the Supreme Court that day to have a meeting with Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and none of us could shower. At that time I was still pre-bundaflicka, living in a nice development with city water and sewers, and was never without water or power. I commenced to whining a bit and a young lady looked me straight in the face and said, MAGGIE!! You GOTTA DEAL!! Yes, I have been dealing with a lot of things these past few years, 8 to be exact, and especially this past year. Matt told me the other day that he didn't think I would be this tough. Well, what else can a farmgirl do? I have to take some personal responsibility here. I bought this farm and told him, honey, you can come if you want - but I am outta here. So it was totally my doing. I did have to pick out a farm with no house, didn't I! So it's been a winter of freezing trailer, red-neck Saturday nights in the stock tank, and sponge baths during the week. I heard today that Paris Hilton is going to the LA County Jail. I would like to sentence her to one week with my students during the day, and my trailer at night. She would grow up and clean up her act REAL QUICK! The cats keep killing baby snakes and leaving them on the driveway, reminding me that there are big snakes out there having the little ones. I would never kill any living thing, as I believe they all have a purpose in the scheme of things, but when a snake crosses my path, or runs between my legs in the tall grass, it gives me the willies! When I lived in the shack in the woods in Western NJ, just post Morristown exodus, I found a baby copperhead on my bedroom floor...and as Mia said, there must be a mommy somewhere nearby. Chris Kupris says no poisonous snakes here, but lots of other ones! Big Daddy leaves in the wee hours and I am here to run the place as best I can. I wish I could say I am used to it. Certainly easier with more daylight, but I still worry about falling off ladders, stepping in a hole and breaking something, critters getting in situations I can't get them out of, etc. There are neighbors up and down the road but I prefer to take care of things myself. The Pig Farmer's house burned down and he is staying with his girlfriend's mother in Brookfield. He keeps his pigs on the other side of me. I can just see the barn from my place. Every time I hear a shot I think he is shooting a pig and gives me the creeps. Have to confess, I hear much less shooting here than in NJ and PA where I was afraid to move outside and had boom, boom, boom going on all the time. Last winter I blew a fuse and had no well pump. Matt drove all the way back from NJ, four hours, to fix the fuse, then drove back again. Now I would call Kelly's husband Steve, who is only 45 minutes away and is a wiz at that stuff. So I guess I am settling in...if only the stars, planets and moon would come out.