When you spend enough time in the woods certain things stand out very clearly. The things that hit me strongly are memories with the kids and my ex husband. The smell of hunting. The beauty of God’s creation. The sounds of birds singing…chipmunks chattering a warning that a stranger is in the woods and the sound of insects.
When driving with your window down you can smell a deer from a hundred feet off or so. Their musk and their droppings are one of a kind. And its funny because you would think that the smell of an elk or moose might smell the same because they eat the same food but its completely different.
A friend of mine thought I was crazy as we drove back roads from Issaquah to Monroe to see a band at a bar one July. The windows were down, the music playing loud and we were singing loudly, just being goofy together. I drove around a corner and the smell of deer hit me strong. I asked my friend..do you smell that? He did and said “smells like horses.” I broke out in laughter and said he was insane, that it was deer if ever there was a smell. Our banter lasted a whole 15-20 seconds until I rounded another corner and standing off the side of the road were 3 doe and a fawn.
I was smug to say the least and all I got from my friend was what he always liked to call me “country girl!!!”
A bit further there was another smell that he said “cows…definitely cows.”
I replied “nope, horses.”
You’ll never guess who was correct <insert cheesy grin here>!
I asked him “Have you ever been hunting? or lived in the country?” I knew the answer but was being facetious. He rolled his eyes as I giggled and called him “city boy!”
He was so “citified” that he didn’t even knew the first thing about tools except what some were called. When he moved I helped him set his bed back up, he said that it sagged in the middle so off we went to Home Depot after I measured twice and knew exactly what was needed.
As the salesman was helping us my friend got this bright idea that I was wrong. He had the guy cut the perpendicular support pieces that went from the floor to the horizontal supports a full inch and a half longer than my measurement. This friend, stubborn as a bull ox, could not understand that the vertical pieces were only going to the wood and not the box springs so I let the guy do his job. While my friend went to the restroom I asked the salesman to cut a few more pieces to my measurement and I took them to the car and waited. My friend bought his lumber and came out still shaking his head at me. When he sat in the car I asked… do you have nails?
The 15 minute store run lasted 45. When we got back I pulled a hammer from my toolbox in my trunk and got this look of disbelief from him. I smiled and didn’t say a word.
His first 2 nails were crooked and he had a bear of a time figuring out how to undo what he had done. Before I took over I had him put his box spring and mattress on the one support the push down on one side.
“Why is it rocking?”
That was my cue to run to the bathroom before I peed my pants. I was laughing and he was swearing and mumbling and grumbling. When I came out he had a look of resign on his face, to which I laughed harder. I asked him to take apart what he had done and I would be right back.
As i hammered the contraption together we talked about things…like “You could have told me I was wrong” and “well you are the one with the degree in communications and still don’t realize after 30 plus years that listening is one of the most essential parts of communicating.”
I was treated to a nice dinner that night and the first of many times hearing my friends statement that he often repeated “You will never get a marriage proposal from me, you drive me insane!!” I replied “Its ok, You just don’t know what’s good for you, I think you were dropped on your head as a child!”
We were close friends for several years then grew apart…but many places we went together people would ask how long we had been married. It was an awesome friendship while it lasted but some things are not meant to last a lifetime. He impacted my life greatly and I am glad for the friendship in my life. Without this friend I might still have never visited the rain forest, or ocean, or gone to Jazz Alley and seen Tower of Power…or driven to Monroe on that beautiful day that I was reminded of how much the woods and small town life make me who I am.
My heart and life will ever be changed by you Mr Odom. Thank you so very much.
amysomday part 2 