Country Learning

My car has needed new tires for quite a while now. I keep putting it off because I don't enjoy car repair places and I don't enjoy talking about something that I know nothing about. Also, I got *one* new tire last spring when that tire was leaking horribly and I didn't realize that it was important to replace tires two tires at a time. (I now know that it makes the tires wear unevenly.) And, I hated to admit that I had messed up.

So, today I finally pulled my car into Dave's, a local gas station/repair shop that is not actually owned by Dave. I refer to the actual owner as "the guy who isn't Dave" because I can never remember his name. Anyway, non-Dave is really nice (I know this from the first tire experience) and I feel silly about putting the tire thing off so long.

I wasn't sure if I needed to have 3 or 4 new tires. I didn't know if the 1 tire would have worn unevenly over the past 9 months, or if it would be okay to just replace the 3 older ones. I made sure non-Dave knew I didn't want to get in a pattern of replacing 1 tire and then wait a year before replacing the other 3. I need things to be as simple as possible.

Non-Dave told me that replacing the new tire "would be a waste of money". I love it when a business person tells me that! It makes me feel like everything else I buy will be such a bargain, and I feel like I can trust their recommendations better.

Non-Dave was great and told me all kinds of information I'm sure my husband will want to know but I didn't really get. The brand of the one new tire is no longer available (I got it at the farmer's co-op which has closed) so non-Dave finds an available brand that has a similar tread. Non-Dave has to order my tires because my car's tire size is not one that he normally stocks. I took notes in my PDA.

I scheduled an appointment for my car for next week. Then, non-Dave wants to know who my husband is. I tell him John's name and where he works. Non-Dave looks puzzled and asks, "What kind of car does he drive?" "An Hyundai Elantra GT." "I know exactly who he is!"

You gotta love living in a small town!

During the past few months I have noticed significantly fewer signs of deer on our property than normal. While we joked about the deer all being killed in car accidents, I still wondered what happened to them. Last month we had a major snow and ice storm and there were no deer tracks to be seen. This week we had more snow and this time there are the usual deer tracks all over our yard. I was a little worried about them, so I was glad to see the deer back in action.

More things I have learned while living in the country:

1. Take time to sit quietly outside. You’ll be amazed at the diversity and beauty of the wildlife.

2. If a dear is hit & injured by a car, but still alive, the local Sheriff or other law enforcement person will come to your place and shoot it. They also have to tag and file a report on the deer incident. (Deer are very closely regulated.)

3. If you are lucky, your local 911 Dispatch will maintain a listing of local people who would like the recently killed deer. These local people will come to your place and haul off the deer, leaving the innards in your yard for the coyotes to feast on. (This is called “field dressing” the deer.)

Yes, people eat roadkill. When I first learned about this I was completely horrified. Recently I learned the story behind the roadkill list from a neighbor who has lived in the same house for over 60 years.

Many years ago a sheriff's officer on routine patrol stopped because he saw an older woman struggling to load a dead deer into her trunk. The officer wondered what to do. The woman was poaching - an illegal offense. But, the woman was struggling to feed her family and saw this as a wonderful opportunity to provide some meat for their diet. Eventually the officer established an association where those in need can sign up to receive deer that have been killed as a result of a car accident.