You know you live in the middle of nowhere…the boondocks…the hinterlands…the isolation of country life when…you have no electricity, no water or plumbing, no land line telephone or cell phone…are you kidding? TV and radio are a non-existence item…no news of the world and no local news…you have no clue what is happening in the outside world. No Wi-Fi…DSL or Internet. You are cut off from civilization. Hello? Hello can you hear me now?
It’s you and mother nature…usually a few hundred cows and several horses along with a few dogs and my cat!
I thought it would be fun to compile my list of recognizing when you are living in the remote solitude of nowhere, finding yourself in the boondocks of the twilight zone…so here we go, hang on!
You know when you live in the middle of nowhere when…
1-You do not see another person besides your husband and your son for weeks at a time…we lived in our camp trailer while our house was being remodeled, with Kalamazoo, our black Manx kitty who was 14 years old and our son who was almost 18…oh fun-fun!
Incredibly, we managed to live for almost six months in our camp trailer together…our gooseneck horse trailer was my pantry as it held my freezer and refrigerator plugged into an extension cord that ran to the house. I was awfully glad to move into the ranch house at the end of the six months of trailer living, but we found silly things to laugh about and we learned what was truly important in life…which is the greatest lesson of all!
2-You can tell which neighbor is driving by in their pick up by the sounds their pick up makes…be it exhaust or the type of engine or maybe it just makes a sound all its own…and you know who it is!
3-You only go to town for groceries and supplies once a month…and it takes a couple of hours to get to town on windy country roads and curvy two lane highways….
Incredible scenery though:)
4-You live in the least populated county in the least populated state in the United States…and sing “Oh Give Me A Home Where The Buffalo Roam…” and the song comes true!
5-You can see a million stars as well as the satellites that pass overhead…you can often see the Northern Lights or the Aurora Borealis with the incredible colors. William Shakespeare once said,”My Soul Is The Sky”…he was right as the endless sky and solar system truly feed my spirit with a sense of awe! The night sky is huge out in the middle of nowhere and especially in Wyoming with the altitude, we felt much closer and saw much more than ever before…no pollution…just crisp clear sky that went on forever and ever whether at night or during the daytime…it was and still is incredible to live in the boondocks!
6-You missed the first Gulf War due to lack of TV reception, lack of radio reception and no newspapers to be found…we had no idea what was happening in Kuwait or Iraq…it was bizarre!
7-Due to country-itous, you resort to silly games…such as when you talk to your spouse, you pick up a piece of wire from a bale of hay and look them in the eye saying, “I feel really wired this morning from my coffee.” And the humor and country games begin!
8-You literally have to mail order everything from a tube of lip gloss to a much needed tractor part…thank goodness for the mail as it was my salvation!
9-You catch one of your employees playing “Catch the Live Rattlesnake “with your 15-year-old son on a warm summer evening in your yard no doubt, around your house, where they have the snake on a leash of bailing twine saying “Here Mr. Sneaky Snake…Come On…Come See Me!”
10-The above employee Brian, kills the snake, forgets to tell you that he put the meat etc. into one of your baggies in your back porch refrigerator…then leaves as he forgot to take it when he left…and you get up in the middle of the night for a cold drink of water or ice tea that you keep in the back porch refrigerator….you do not have your contacts in and you see this baggie with sort of dark reddish stuff in it…and you wonder what in the world…you squint your eyes real good and then you see the diamond back skin in the dark red blood…and now you scream obscenities…stomping up the stairs to your bedroom…waking up the husband who hears you swearing and saying some very choice names…and he thinks uh-oh saying “Yes dear, yes dear, I agree!”
11-Brian hears that you found his snake guts…and he stays away and hides from you for a good two weeks.
In Central Oregon, in one summer we killed 36 rattlesnakes just at the ranch complex where we lived…they were everywhere we went. The hay fields were full of them and often they would get baled into a bale of hay so when you get the job of walking and rolling the bales over…you roll and watch carefully. WB had one bite the fork on the bale wagon and it hung on so hard, it tipped the hay bale over that it was trapped in…their bite is evil and their mouths are so strong!
12-A night at the movies consists of an evening drive up on that mountain for fun…as you grab your camera and your music, taking your guns just in case you see a snake or a bear or a critter!
13-In Wyoming, you see more skunks than people! We had a black Manx kitty who accidentally got out of the house at dusk…I pulled on my boots…I was pretty stylish with my boots and my nightgown…I grabbed a flashlight and begin to hunt for him…oh there he is you think…What? NO IT IS NOT…it’s a skunk that you have the light on calling here kitty kitty…make another note…always, ALWAYS wear your glasses!
14-A few weeks later a skunk gets under your house about 3:00am and sprays right under your bedroom….OH MY GOSH! Instant coughing and pungent fumes wake you up as you come gagging out of your bedroom…eyes watering as the smell somehow becomes a taste in your mouth! Our son goes to school the next day and while in home room one of the students and the teacher ask, who got sprayed by a skunk? Your son dies of embarrassment as he is the newest student in a very small school…that night he goes out and shoots a couple skunks for revenge! I could not believe how many skunks there were in Wyoming…they were everywhere!
And with that said…this ends part one…it’s beautiful out today with clear sunny skies and currently 76 degrees! Have a wonderful week!
Part Two is next…stay tuned:)
Hot Rod Cowgirl 
May 15, 2014 @ 14:03:12
Hope ya like it HRCG!!!
I laugh everytime I see it!
S-e.
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May 15, 2014 @ 20:18:21
I LOVE it….too funny! Yep that would be me without my glasses! Thanks for sharing:)
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May 09, 2014 @ 17:52:04
What a great blog!!!!! Absolutely fabulous!
I live like I am in the middle of nowhere…with the once a month grocery shopping & cat food buying…
Skunks here too…I have a bad habit of calling them…well I thinki I am calling a cat & what a surprise!!!! Funny thing: pierre the skunk has never sprayed me…he just looks at me & listenes & ambles away…maybe my inane babbling amuses him…or he likes the cat kibble I put out for the ferals.
There are times when I do not turn on the RV or PC or radio…just sit in peace & I know nothing of thte outside world…
You are mighty brave about the rattlesnkes; they would terrify me 😉
Sherri-Ellen & Nylablue ❤ ❤
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May 07, 2014 @ 20:53:45
I love this post. We live in the boondocks, but you really are in the middle of nowhere. My wife would love that. I have cousins in Wyoming. I haven’t visited in years. We’ll have to go visit sometime.
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May 07, 2014 @ 21:08:38
Forever in my life:) We were close to Pinedale Wyoming…I would move back there in a heart beat…it truly hit my heart as it was the combination of the ranch I grew up on….where we live today is half way between the summer cattle ranch and the winter cattle ranch I grew up on…most cow ranches I have been around have both summer ground and winter ground…with my Dad’s cattle the winter ranch was important as we had cows calving through the winter months. I love the middle of nowhere…it is us and what I know. I love hitting Costco a few times a year and also shopping at Ranch and Home! But get me back home to the hinterlands:)
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May 08, 2014 @ 10:04:59
That is awesome. Most folks couldn’t take that kind of life.
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May 08, 2014 @ 22:52:32
I think growing up that way helped me adjust to the more isolated life…I know I love the incredible wilderness and the beauty that is everywhere outside:)
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May 07, 2014 @ 11:39:26
Please visit my new blog, hope you like it 🙂
http://ajaytaobotanicalblog.wordpress.com/
thank you so much dear 🙂
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May 07, 2014 @ 15:04:47
I LOVE it! I love flowers too and am always hoping to learn more about different species. Thank you so much for sending me your link:)
Blessings,
HRCG
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May 07, 2014 @ 19:49:46
Oh dear you dont have to thank me
we all love nature and I am so passionate about it 🙂
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Apr 30, 2014 @ 10:50:36
Awesomeness.
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Apr 30, 2014 @ 13:11:34
Thank you:) It was a fun post to do!
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Apr 30, 2014 @ 13:13:06
🙂
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Apr 30, 2014 @ 07:13:22
And there I was thinking WE are rural. You win, hands down! But we still have to mail order almost everything and are actually grateful for Walmart! Somewhere to get basic stuff! Wow. The only news that everyone talks about down at the lumber yard cum feed store is the weather. Actually, around here, that IS the news 🙂
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Apr 30, 2014 @ 13:17:38
Hi there! It is good to see you and to see you are healing up well:) One day at a time huh? You are doing good…just don’t over-do:) Finally today is to be 80 degrees and it is perfect outside….love days like this! Having grown up on a remote cattle ranch helped when we moved to manage some of the remote ranches…I knew how to handle it and loved the remoteness. I was happy that we got to experience the different ranches:) Tell Garry Hi and I am sending you (((Hugs Marilyn)))
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Apr 30, 2014 @ 03:26:51
WOW……this makes my life seem so desperately BORING! 😉 I think you are so lucky to have so much beauty surrounding you even if it occasionally is fraught with storms, snakes, and UPS men delivering supplies!! You’re living “the life” that many of us wish we could…..I hear the traffic and you hear Mother Nature singing her songs. Can’t wait for “Part Two” !!
Hugs, Pam
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Apr 30, 2014 @ 13:22:22
Thank you much:) I do know how lucky I have been…believe me I have seen some incredible times and even if they were at times hard, I loved every minute of it! Growing up on a remote ranch paved the way for WB and I to go manage other remote ranches…and it is funny but the more remote the ranch is the more WB and I like it…we truly appreciate untouched landscapes, the weather, the isolation and not having cell service or computers…it is nice! When our two boys were still with us, we as a family bonded more without the modern conveniences…without the distractions of modern life it was way better! Hugs and Kitty Luvs to Sammie:)
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Apr 30, 2014 @ 02:50:59
In the middle of nowhere, that ‘s the best place. Obviously.
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Apr 30, 2014 @ 13:23:34
Yes:) It is the best and we love the quiet, the peace of it and the beauty of living where modern day society has not touched it:)
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Apr 29, 2014 @ 23:59:22
Great post and after 40 years of cities and suburbs it sounds almost perfect, lol apart from the snakes and skunks
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Apr 30, 2014 @ 13:27:28
Thank you:) It is perfect and seeing life in a different way and experiencing that way of life, living on the land that mankind has not touched yet was incredible:) The snakes were truly awful..you get used to it sorta, you carry a gun and watch where you step and avoid areas where they would be…having the river and the hay crops made it bad as the snakes get hot too and like finding wet stuff to hide in and lay on…plus it was a high desert so we had lots of rocks where they could live…but no the snakes were yuk…skunks were not fun but they were easier to avoid.
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Apr 30, 2014 @ 13:55:25
I suppose it’s a small price to pay for living in such a stunning part of the world, and a interesting lifestyle, I love the picture of the stars you really have to hunt for a spot where you can see stars like that in the UK
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Apr 30, 2014 @ 20:30:22
Never a dull moment! Yes the night skies here are amazing and incredible to see.
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Apr 29, 2014 @ 18:10:23
I absolutely loved this post.. brought me to a world so very different than my own.
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Apr 29, 2014 @ 20:28:55
Thank you much. I subscribed to your blog…we may live in different worlds but we share the love of writing:) I look forward to seeing your world too:)
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May 01, 2014 @ 10:40:48
🙂 Thanks so much! I look forward to more of yours as well!
Easter
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May 01, 2014 @ 12:39:23
🙂
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Apr 29, 2014 @ 17:13:35
Doesn’t sound bad at all.
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Apr 29, 2014 @ 20:30:35
It’s peaceful and you are much more plugged into life:) I love seeing the city for a few days but then, get me home again where the buffalo roam:)
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Apr 29, 2014 @ 17:03:05
Ha – In the middle of nowhere – but smack dab in the middle of life. (and I need to get back there) Great post. Made me smile
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Apr 29, 2014 @ 20:32:33
You are right on:) Yep…without all the distractions of life, technology and etc. you are more rested, peaceful and right in the middle of life:) I’m glad it made you smile!
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