Decisions

While I was away, Mick sold his four wheeler. The four wheeler that I loved to ride and had this kick ass track around the property for. When J called and told me this, I was...a little sad. And then I started to freak. I'm so not a country girl and I get bored very easily. I always have to be doing something or I will go crazy.

Major dilemma. No four wheeler. What the hell am I gonna do?

Not like I can do much yet. Although I no longer have a cast, I am in a removable boot thing that is bulky and not very conducive for physical activities. It actually looks like something Marilyn Manson would wear. But in two weeks - finally - it comes off.

So I've been thinking about it. What will I do? We have two tractors. Fun if you want to demolish stuff or dig holes but they are way too slow to have any real fun on. I came up with two ideas.

The first is to buy another four wheeler or a dirt bike. The old four wheeler was a 4x4 so it sucked for digging in the berms or fish tails or fast turns. If I buy a new one, it will definitely be two wheel drive. Maybe a Banshee or something similar.

My second idea was to just buy a street bike. That way I'm not confined to the property and we could actually go places on it. A nice ride to Brasstown Bald or a cruise through Helen. But J thinks I'M too dangerous to own one and she would most likely be afraid to ride with me. But still...fun.

Well, I got two weeks to decide. Maybe I should just flip a coin.

Daily injury status report

Shannon came over today with her boyfriend, Rob. Shannon definitely wasn't dressed for riding the four wheeler, so I got Rob to ride with me. We had a good time and, when we were about finished riding, Rob talked Shannon into taking a ride with him. She really wasn't dressed for it...loose fitting skirt and a too small and tight shirt. By the time they came back up the driveway, she was almost naked.

I took one last run through the trails before I parked it. The trails we were riding are becoming easily noticeable now so it should have been no problem to maneuver.

I rode the steep incline to the top of the mountain, slid around the fallen tree, swerved around the rock, and turned the corner to the circle. Out of nowhere, BAM! I still don't know where the branch came from but it damn near knocked me off the machine.

So, my injury report for today...fat lip with a nice cut on the inside of it and a scratch along the side of my nose. Ain't I purty...lmao. It was so worth it. J is making me get a helmet...arrrggghh! And its such a small scratch!

Astronomy night was pretty cool. We learned a lot of stuff that I probably learned in school but can't remember. Like the life cycle of stars and stuff about the moons craters. At the end of the lecture, we looked through a few telescopes they had set up. We got to see Saturn, which was way cool. But J might say that when I started laughing with a mouth full of water and ended up spitting it out all over the place (including on the backs of the two girls in front of us...I apologized) was the coolest part of the night. I guess I can think of it as funny now, but I didn't think so last night. And the reason I was laughing...J and Shannon said 'no' right after each other. I still have no idea what I found so damn funny about that.

The cool things about living in the North Georgia Mountains:
The speed limit is 55 pretty much anywhere you go.
Anna Ruby Falls.
Helen.
Building a fire and roasting marshmallows, all in your own back yard.
Friends and guitars and bad singing around that fire and no one complains that we are making too much noise.
J and her amazingly funny family. (You gotta hear Aunt Rita's cat stories.)
Riding the four wheeler without worrying if the cops are going to come and give us tickets for trespassing or try to arrest us.

Bang!

I woke up to the sound of a loud, and I mean loud, bang at about three in the morning. Me and J had the house to ourselves and if anyone was coming home or over, they would have showed up before midnight. I nudged J as I reached for my gun and asked her if she heard it. She mumbled something I didn't understand so I loaded the chamber and had my thumb at the ready, over the safety. I maneuvered through the room in the dark, trying not to knock over anything and quietly unlocked our bedroom door. I opened it just enough but didn't see anything or anyone. I pulled the rest of the way open and the bathroom door swung open. I pulled my gun up and aimed...Jules threw her hands in the air and yelled, "Whoa!"

I started laughing. I guess it was my nerves. Shit...we live in the middle of the woods for Christ sakes. People around here leave their keys in their cars and sleep with the doors and windows open. You don't do that where I come from. Jules, who is Rock's girlfriend by the way, started laughing with me. Her yell brought Rock out of his room.

"She almost shot me," she said, still laughing.
Rock looked stoned out of his mind and just laughed with us.
"Well, you scared the shit out of me. And if you were an intruder, you wouldn't be walking out of here. That's for sure." I ejected the clip of my gun, emptied the bullet from the chamber, and took a deep breath. I don't want to ever have to use my gun to kill someone but if it comes down to me or J's life, I sure as hell will.

I crawled back in bed. Adrenaline was still pumping through me. J rolled over and placed her hand in the center of my chest and draped her leg over me. "Thanks," she whispered, "for protecting me."




When I woke up with a desperate need to quench my ache for another adrenaline rush later in the morning, I grabbed the key for the four wheeler. What can I say? I don't do drugs...who needs them when life and living is the best drug I've ever encountered. I talked J into riding with me so I could show her the new paths I had made up the side of the mountain and the one down by the creek. As butch as she is, she held on to me for dear life. I promise, I was taking it easy, but when I showed her the incline we were going up, I thought she was going to jump off. Anyway...I showed her the paths and then told her to take a solo run through it. It was funny, she is so damn careful and slow.
Finally, she came back and hopped off. She sat on the porch and watched me take my turn. When I can back, she looked white.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Please be more careful," she begged. "At least until we get some helmets. You were on two wheels and you caught air coming up the driveway."
I wanted to tell her that that was nothing. That if I had full gear on, I probably would have took the machine to its extreme. But the look on her face made me turn to mush. I promised I'd be more careful and proceeded to crawl around the paths at turtle speed. Until I saw her walk in the house and then it was all out. I was having a blast. I flew down the driveway at full speed. The air was cold and my fingers and face were going numb but fuck it, right. I splashed through the creek, shot out to the driveway then slid sideways into the woods. When I emerged from woods, J was standing on the porch with the camera and a look on her face like it was the end of my riding for the day. She shook her head and I winked. I rode the path one more time and parked the four wheeler. I definitely fulfilled my need for adrenaline.

Now, if J ever lets me ride it again...that's another story.

Our pal, Shannon, should be here any minute. We are heading out to astronomy night at Unicoi State Park. It starts at 8. Come one, come all.