What I do NOT miss...

I feel it's only fair.... ;o)

Well, I certainly have things that I do not miss about West Texas. I mean...come on. If not for family and friends, West Texas would've just been something of the past a long time ago. I never keep it any secret how much I did not like the area. It's not BAD BAD, but it's so not my favorite either. However, my favorite PEOPLE are there...so that makes a big difference. ;O)

Anyway, West Texas does not get off Scott Free here...

~ hummingbird sized mosquitoes (AT ALL) i get swarmed. always.
~ wind. not that there is not wind here, no there is plenty. however, we don't have to breathe in half of New Mexico when it does blow here. It's just damn cold.
~ 107 degrees in the shade. Yeah I loathe baking when I step out the front door for 5 whole seconds.
~ Swarms. You know how every couple of years we have a swarm of something? The crickets are the worst IMO. *shudder* but the grasshoppers, the beetles, the crickets...
~ june bugs. potato bugs. whatever you call them. i hate, hate, hate them. thanks to my Uncle Tommy and cousin Philip. I'm still scarred by them chasing me and throwing them in my hair.
~ fences. that's the WAY cool thing here. there are thousands and thousands of acres here that have no fences. meaning...if i had a HORSE here i could ride for days and not make a circle. you can go exploring anywhere on foot, on bike, on horse...it's awesome. there are hardly any fences here. i dig.
~ brown grass
~ this one is a given...fire ants
~ having to watch for poisonous snakes
~ having to watch for poisonous spiders
~ having to watch out for poisonous everything.
~ um, just having to worry about everything possibly being killer bugs or reptiles or animals or...whatever it may be.
~ wasp nests.
~ the barren landscape
~ water rationing
~ the feeling like the world drops off at the edge of town. ;0) haha

I was reading some nature books with the boys the other day, I've bought a load of old books at thrift stores about nature, animals etc...  SO we got to rattlesnakes and that, of course, led to the conversation how they are poisonous and all over the place in Texas. Then we got into all the snakes and spiders and scorpions etc... Well, as much as Kade always tells me that we HAVE to go back to Texas tomorrow, he suddenly changed his tune. He seriously had fear in his eyes and said, "Mom, we can't ever go back to Texas. It's DANGEROUS!"
Whoops! ha! Well, I suppose it will seem that way. Where as I grew up knowing to watch for snakes, not play with spiders and always check the covers before getting in bed, never slipping my feet in a shoe w/out shaking it out first so on and so forth. They are missing out on that schooling living here, so I guess when it's not just the way things are, it's freaky. Just as I did NOT believe or trust our neighbors when we first got here and I asked them what would kill me, after their "OMG that American is mad" expression, they said nothing. Well, I thought it had to be some sort of conspiracy. I mean, not having rabies here was trippy enough, but seriously?!?!?! No killer insects? Not even one teeny tiny innocent looking ladybug turned fire-breathing beast? Unheard of! So I did hear later there is one snake to watch out for here, but it's very rare. Regardless, I jog through the woods with wild abandon.
Needless to say, when we move back to Texas I will surely get bit by a rattler within a month. I should start taking bets now.
While it's not killer, the stinkin nettle is nearly as bad though. OUCH!!!! It might LOOK like the making of strawberries growing wild...it's surely not. Don't find out the hardway like I did. More of that ignorant American I guess. In my flip flops and shorts walking up to a huuuuge patch, "Hey Mike! Look! Wild strawberries EVERYWHEeeeee......OUCH SHIT! OWowowowowowow!!!! *&(*&^^&%^&@@$!&#*J".
Yeah, good thing no one else was around to see that one...