I recently read about some folks I know getting together and having a firewood chopping party for a sick neighbor!   Here is the reply that I sent them:

 

I just wish I could have been there to help.  I’m terrible with an axe, but I “tote wood” pretty darn good.  That was SO nice of you folks.  It’s too bad there’s not more of this now a days.  You are all a prime example of what good friends and neighbors really are!

Ozarkguy

Ticks, good friends, and chopping wood...

That kind gesture by these folks reminded me of something.  Hearing about this DID strike a nerve in me, as it reminded me of how kind some people can be even in this sometimes unpleasant world we live in.

 

So I’ll tell you about something that happened to me a while back, and how I learned the meaning of country hospitality.  But first I gotta tell you that I come from a place where you can live for years, and often you don’t even know your next door neighbors.  And people are more likely to run you off the road, than to wave hello like we do in the Ozarks...

 

When I first bought my Missouri dirt, er, uhhh, rocks, I was SO happy to finally get a chance to spend some time there.  I packed up my honey and all the camping gear, (in that order) and we’re off to the hills!  I should point out that this was vacant property.  The original owners hadn’t been there in 20 years.  It was overgrown and wild, and the driveway had only been used by the occasional hunters.

 

So anyways, we FINALLY got there.  Hurray!  Now what?  Parked out in the road, I got out to see the original driveway was so overgrown we couldn’t even get in there to park.  It was ALSO Spring.  We quickly found out tick season was in full bloom.  The grass and weeds were over 2 feet high, and no matter how much tick spray we used, we were still covered with the little suckers!  By now my usually quiet gal was swearing like a truck driver as she picked ticks off of “everywhere” on her body.  Now when she’s in THAT kind of a mood, I usually find it safer if I go for a walk. (wink) 

 

Within just a few minutes, a neighbor across the road came over and introduced himself.  How nice.  We chatted a bit as he told me all about the neighborhood, and who was who around there.  Then it was “Nice to meet ya” as I figured I’d better get back to my gal. 

 

So I go check to make sure a bear hadn’t eaten her or something, while trying to figure out how we’re gonna camp, or even get in there?  Now I’m still scratching my chin and trying to figure this out, as the new neighbor and HIS next door neighbor came over.  Get this... with weed whackers!!!  They spent what seemed like forever clearing out this overgrown jungle for us.  We now had a driveway, a huge place to camp, and plenty of room to view our new Missouri dirt.  Sweaty and tick covered, they laughed and welcomed us again, and went home.  WOW!  We were shocked at how nice these folks were to people they didn’t even know.  But of course, they must be the exception?  We were just lucky enough to run into the two nicest folks around.  Surely there couldn’t be other people like this around here?

 

The next day a bunch of the neighbors down the road got together and had a fish fry for us.  The following night (during a thunderstorm), at midnight a pick-up truck pulled up to our place.  More neighbors had heard where we were camping.  So they had watched the weather channel and wanted us to come and spend the night with them (as it was predicted bad storms were coming in).  We didn’t even know these people, and here they were at midnight trying to get us in out of the rain!  We did decline, as we were determined to spend every minute we could on our new place, but it was SO nice of them to offer the help. 

 

Now wait... there’s more... The next day, still more neighbors showed up.  We had

no boat, and although we were on the water, we were not close enough to anywhere we could easily rent one.  So of course these new neighbors took us out in theirs.  We got a private tour of the lake by people who had lived on it for more than twenty years!  What nice people they are. Later in the day, we jumped in the car just to go for a ride.  We wound up a couple of towns over as we started getting hungry.  Not looking for a “restaurant” we picked the smallest little café kind of a place to eat.  The lady there was the owner, (complete with her kids playing with their trucks on the floor).  We felt so “at home” there, that it was like having dinner with our family.  She told us how she and her hubby started out like we were doing so many years ago.  She also said the first year she had no plumbing, and she showered outside with one of those bags you hang from a tree, (like the one we had).  hehe... She said she loves it there, and that first year was the best time she’s ever had in her life.  I know what she means!  We later met people at the grocery store, the gas station, and down at the dock where some folks talked us into? using the wave riders they had.  Geeeezzzz... And by now my arm was tired from waving back to so many people greeting us as we drove down the backroads exploring the countryside. 

 

By the time we got back to our campsite we found out someone had snuck in there while we were gone.  Oh oh... then we found out that a little “country elf” had left us a bag of what?  We opened it up to see fresh veggies.  Also in the bag was a note that simply said “fresh from the garden – Welcome”.  And there were still other neighbors that insisted we go for a ride on their pontoon boat as they showed us around the lake so we could try out all the best swimming spots. 

 

And on and on... Yes, I could keep going on about people we didn’t even know inviting us for lunch, or wanting to lend us their bush-hogger (as we stared at each other trying to figure out what kind of a new “hog/pig” a bush-hog was?). And even people lending us the “right kind” of fishing gear, and telling us where to go to catch the “big uns” (as they put it), and so on.

 

Coming from the city, we learned of a new kind of life and a new kind of people.  It’s the way things SHOULD be.  We will always be grateful to those folks that were so kind to us.  That first couple of weeks changed us forever, and we try to pay those folks back by treating everyone we meet the way were greeted those first few days.  We learned that country is not where you’re at, but what’s in your heart.

 

Oh, how I love those hills... and the people that live there.

 

Ozarkguy