Surly Rurals Are Surly Thread

[MaybeACoordinator 8349]

Because I am a new rural, and inspired by a post on the Gohmert thread by @High Plains Drifter I am only now just beginning to understand in full after four months deep in the sticks of southwestern Brazoria County, I am starting a thread for the Surly Rurals. 

I really liked this part of his post:

Quote

I like where I live because its quiet and dark at night and I have space for a garden and fruit trees and outdoor fires and I can leave my keys in my ignition and my daugther can leave her bike in the front yard and the dogs can run through neighboring pastures and chase rabbits and I can hit golf balls with from my porch. But I also get absolutely sick of the hypocritical bullshit coming from my neighbors.

There's a trade-off. Not much variety in the way of dining options. A bunch of pig-headed people. But I can fish from my front yard and blaze one under the Milky Way, so I forgive a lot of earthly bullshit. 

Politics allowed, by necessity. I don't want to to CR it all the way, but you can't live in the Texas sticks w/o talking about Trumpism. 

 

 

Edited February 9, 2021 by MaybeACoordinator

[fattyflattie 4638]

Hello neighbor to my folks. With regard to the mesquitos, may God have mercy on your soul. 

[MaybeACoordinator 8349]

2 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

Hello neighbor to my folks. With regard to the mesquitos, may God have mercy on your soul. 

Lord....Yeah....On still days in certain parts of the county it's fucking horrendous. 

 

[fattyflattie 4638]

And the hogs. Just go ahead and get you a hog trap now.    
 

I was raised down there and I love it, but there are some things I don’t miss. The several hundred year old live oaks that littered our property, the fishing. But those goddamn mesquites and gumbo clay.   
 

I only live an hour away, but I can count the number of mesquitos I’ve seen on one hand over the last few years. 

[immortal13 4059]

We live up on a hill(spectacular views all around) so it's almost always breezy if not windy. Mosquitos are not bad at all, much better than when I uses to live in a neighborhood and God the peace and quiet are worth a million dollars. We have just over 50 acres, so neighbors are not an issue. We have horses and chickens, we can fish in one of two ponds, hunt deer/hogs, shoot anytime we want.There's no way I would go back to living in a subdivision. 

[MaybeACoordinator 8349]

14 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

And the hogs. Just go ahead and get you a hog trap now.    
 

I was raised down there and I love it, but there are some things I don’t miss. The several hundred year old live oaks that littered our property, the fishing. But those goddamn mesquites and gumbo clay.   
 

I only live an hour away, but I can count the number of mesquitos I’ve seen on one hand over the last few years. 

I'd never seen wild hogs alive until I moved down here....They don't seem to come back here on our dirt road but I've seen a few sounders now elsewhere in the county. Not sure why not, but I never even see their scat or their wallows...there must be easier pickings nearby, where there aren't as many armed homeowners and bigass dogs.  

[fattyflattie 4638]

Yeah my folks place is up next to the San Bernard refuge area.  Millions of those damn things.  We trapped a few hundred when they first moved out there, and they left for a bit. Then one day they came back and turned up the entire front yard (3 acres).   Don’t really care when they are out in the pasture but man they can do a number on a yard.  

[BradInATX 9208]

Also a new semi-rural. Moved from 1/8 acre in south Austin to several acres near New Braunfels. Can't see another house from the backyard. Not really true rural. We have an HOA, but the lots are all 3+ acres. We have gigabit internet but our water comes from a well. We have one of the cheapest houses in the neighborhood, they range up to seven figures.

Have seen a little bit of redneckery particularly down at the river park, but I actually get along just fine with common clay of the new west types, so it doesn't really bother me.

I can't really tell you how I'm dealing with leaving Austin because we've been mostly stuck at home due to Covid and kids. But it kicks ass to sit out on my patio with sports on and music up and have a beer, cigar, or other stuff into the night without worrying about the neighbors or being able to see what they're watching on TV. It will kick even more ass when the pool and cabana bar go in. I like doing country shit. I like riding the lawnmower and putting fence up and moving rocks around. I like drinking beer in the river and watching the side by sides roll up, stupid flags and all.

So far not surly, but I know I'll miss some things from Austin. Toughest part will be finding like minded friends with kids out here.

The kids' school track here is great and to get comparably rated schools in Austin we'd be in a Circle C/Lakeway/Westlake type suburban hell. I'd rather live with the nouveau-riche necks than in any of those places.

Subscribed for other people's experiences doing the same thing. Cool thread.

Edited February 9, 2021 by BradInATX

[Parliament 14296]

I've lived in rural America since I was born.  And you better not be the kinda city slickers who whine about the smell when I spread my hog manure.

[fattyflattie 4638]

We are right on the edge of all of that right now.  Literally the last neighborhood before the horse properties begin.  At the time we built, it was unaffordable.  Now it has doubled in price in the last 10 years, but with our situation, has become within reach.   I've been hard on the wife to make the move, but she "loves the neighbors, loves the street" fml.  

If my industry was at all represented in NB, that's where I would be. Talk about the perfect location. 

[BradInATX 9208]

Just now, Parliament said:

I've lived in rural America since I was born.  And you better not be the kinda city slickers who whine about the smell when I spread my hog manure.

No issue with hog manure but if you start reheating skyline chili I'm calling the EPA

 

[MaybeACoordinator 8349]

26 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

Yeah my folks place is up next to the San Bernard refuge area.  Millions of those damn things.  We trapped a few hundred when they first moved out there, and they left for a bit. Then one day they came back and turned up the entire front yard (3 acres).   Don’t really care when they are out in the pasture but man they can do a number on a yard.  

Every time I go to the refuge I see them, pretty much. They've torn it up pretty good. I need to get my son down here and we could hunt together. We've never done it before. I used to shoot a fair bit as a young 'un, but he was raised in the middle of Houston and we never have done much of anything like that together. Now he's an army vet, so I don't even have to teach him gun safety or marksmanship, lol. Plug n' play...

[BradInATX 9208]

6 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

We are right on the edge of all of that right now.  Literally the last neighborhood before the horse properties begin.  At the time we built, it was unaffordable.  Now it has doubled in price in the last 10 years, but with our situation, has become within reach.   I've been hard on the wife to make the move, but she "loves the neighbors, loves the street" fml.  

If my industry was at all represented in NB, that's where I would be. Talk about the perfect location. 

 

Finding acreage, good schools and a nice house with a single-comma price tag anywhere in Central Texas is not an easy task. It took us multiple years to end up where we ended up. We almost ended up in Spicewood at one point, and focused on Dripping Springs for awhile, but this ended up being the winner. 

[fattyflattie 4638]

5 minutes ago, BradInATX said:

 

Finding acreage, good schools and a nice house with a single-comma price tag anywhere in Central Texas is not an easy task. It took us multiple years to end up where we ended up. We almost ended up in Spicewood at one point, and focused on Dripping Springs for awhile, but this ended up being the winner. 

I distinctly remember looking at lots where we want to be now, when I got out of school.  99k/acre, but the thought of a 200k lot at the time was too hard to comprehend.  They are now 249k per, 2 acre tract min.   Not to mention it was rural then, but is trying it's hardest to get away from that over the last few years.  Like I said, NB would be the winner for me.  You pretty much are half way to Columbus to get legit rural now, it seems. Congrats to you rural surlies, jelly over here.

[MaybeACoordinator 8349]

My daughter (16, no pics, assholes) found this place for me. Her BFF's parents own the big spread next door and I live in their cabin. During the week when my daughter's down here we split the cabin (with our joint custody rescue chihuahua mutt) and on weekends she crashes over there with her buddy in the palace.  She prefers it down here too. All of a sudden she's an expert on country music which I did not see coming a year ago. (She is her daddy's girl and hates most of the new stuff.)

I work from home, she is still doing school remotely...I only go back to Houston when I absolutely have to. 

[CHIEF 5095]

Rural is nice, but I prefer desolate. I own rural, but grew up on desolate. Like lie awake in bed for 3 hours, and the only thing you can hear is your own heart beating desolate, no car lights in sight. Aspermont, Benjamin, Spur, Crowell, that's the area where I want to be.

CHIEF

Edited February 9, 2021 by CHIEF
punk-u-ashun, and proper grammar.

[MaybeACoordinator 8349]

1 minute ago, CHIEF said:

Rural is nice, but I prefer desolate. I own rural, but grew up on desolate, like lie awake in bed for 3 hours, and the only thing you can hear is your own heart beating desolate, no car lights in sight. Aspermont, Benjamin, Spur, Crowell, that's the area where I want to be.

CHIEF

I hear you. It annoys me that I can hear Hwy 35 about two miles away. Main racket at night time are the owls -- barred owls cackle like demon monkeys. They come by nightly. I've recorded them and I play them back at themselves on a big bluetooth speaker and it freaks them out. I make sure I am inside, though; they will open your head up like a watermelon if you let them.

 

[CHIEF 5095]

1 minute ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

I hear you. It annoys me that I can hear Hwy 35 about two miles away. Main racket at night time are the owls -- barred owls cackle like demon monkeys. They come by nightly. I've recorded them and I play them back at themselves on a big bluetooth speaker and it freaks them out. I make sure I am inside, though; they will open your head up like a watermelon if you let them.

 

We are riverfront, and have about three of them we hear scattered down the river. Got the call down good enough to call them in to spotlight range. The river is about the only place I hear them.

CHIEF

[tx 3 putt 77425]

rural = you can shoot off the back porch

suburbia light = you can't shoot off your back porch but can have big bon fires

[CHIEF 5095]

8 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

rural = you can shoot off the back porch

suburbia light = you can't shoot off your back porch but can have big bon fires

Desolate, no one even hears the shot.

CHIEF

[RPM 26354]

I was raised rural and couldn't wait to gtfo. A few years of city living cured me of that. I'd rather drive an hour each way to work than live in that shit. But it's slowly and surely coming my way. A huge housing development is going in about 5 miles from my place.

[CHIEF 5095]

Just now, CHIEF said:

Desolate, no one even hears the shot. I'm rural/suburbia light, I tell the neighbors when we are gonna be wasting hogs. No shits given by neighbors.

CHIEF

 

[High Plains Drifter 11052]

 

I can hear a highway about two miles away, but after about 9 or 10 o clock, its probably less than one car per hour.  15 years ago when I moved here, it was zero cars after 9.

I can hear gun shot(s) from distant neighbors, and I can hear dogs barking in the distance on a calm night.

I can see the milky way, but there is light pollution in the direction of town (10 miles away).

I see wild turkeys every once in a while. Lots of deer, a bobcat once, mountain lion once. Supposedly a black bear wandered by a "neighbors" house some years back. Sometimes hear coyotes at night. Lots of rabbits and jack rabbits. Lots of hawks. Somebody posted a video of a what appears to be a bald eagle roosting in a tree about 20 miles from my house. Lots of mice. Biggest problem with wild life are pack rats getting in the engine compartments of my vehicles. Hogs are around, but they aren't a huge problem, yet. 

In addition to great horned owls ("hoot owls") we have screech owls, which can really get with it at night. If my window is open, they sometimes wake me up:

 

 

 

 

[High Plains Drifter 11052]

1 hour ago, RPM said:

I was raised rural and couldn't wait to gtfo. A few years of city living cured me of that. I'd rather drive an hour each way to work than live in that shit. But it's slowly and surely coming my way. A huge housing development is going in about 5 miles from my place.

 

I hear you. The big ranches around these parts are slowly getting chopped up into ranchitos. I shouldn't complain, I bought one of those ranchitos 15 years ago.

 

[Willfully Horn 8049]

Rural raised. Post oak covered Cross Timber land. People still kept cattle back then, but it was horse country. I’d  ride my horse on the ‘thousand’ I could access. (I hear that land is now a golf course). Started getting a paycheck at age 12 on a nearby ranch. Three times every summer 14-and-older me would work afternoon to dark, then haul square bales most of the night. Back when carrying a buck knife in school was part of the Jr High experience. 

There was a guy at the Gulf station in south Denton with a refrigerated truck, who’d buy animal pelts. He’d even buy skunk and opossum pelts, but the traps were set for raccoons. We hunted quail and rabbits. And bullfrogs. 

Moved to Austin to attend UT.  Loved living in the city, but when my wife and I were ready for kids, we moved near Hays City. We coexist with what’s left of rural life around here, but we ain’t living it. We make do with deer, foxes, Cara caras and red tailed hawks, black bellied whistlers and green parrots(!). 
 

Mostly, I miss the lightning displays of North Texas. I don’t miss the effort to maintain that much land.

[Willfully Horn 8049]

5 hours ago, Parliament said:

I've lived in rural America since I was born.  And you better not be the kinda city slickers who whine about the smell when I spread my hog manure.

The city slickers I know are more likely to complain about what you (don’t) feed your hogs, not what comes out of them.

I’ll say it. Why the fuck does Texas not produce a world class ham? The state’s lousy with acorns and pig, yet remains non-prosciutto, Parma-less.

The second paragraph intended as a general statement. You’re the first hog farmer to whom I’ve had the opportunity to make the query.

Edited February 9, 2021 by Willfully Horn
Less surly

[Willfully Horn 8049]

18 minutes ago, Willfully Horn said:

Nv nm

 

Edited February 9, 2021 by Willfully Horn

[Guest]

4 hours ago, CHIEF said:

Rural is nice, but I prefer desolate. I own rural, but grew up on desolate. Like lie awake in bed for 3 hours, and the only thing you can hear is your own heart beating desolate, no car lights in sight. Aspermont, Benjamin, Spur, Crowell, that's the area where I want to be.

CHIEF

so you hate people...AND rain.

 

I agree with your point though.  Some of the 'rural' in this thread just means 'not surrounded by concrete.' It's not what some of us consider living in the country.

[BradInATX 9208]

so you hate people...AND rain.
 
I agree with your point though.  Some of the 'rural' in this thread just means 'not surrounded by concrete.' It's not what some of us consider living in the country.

You don't have to live in the middle of nowhere to be rural.

[Restinmybones 111]

Raised in DeWitt and Lavaca counties and still have land and a spry 91 year old mother down there. I've lived in the Dallas area since '82 and been all over the planet for various reasons. Finally retired in January.

[Bevo&Pevo 5218]

When I was kid our nearest neighbor was roughly 3/4 of mile from our place.  I missed out on some stuff growing up like Little League and hanging around a community pool waiting for Wendy Peffercorn to do CPR on me.  However, I had all the dirt clods I could hit and rice water pumping stations to swim in.  As a kid I really wanted to live in a town some where because I thought I was missing out on something.  Then I moved to the Holy Land, the 40 acres, the big A.  It wasn't long and I realized city living wasn't for me.  Couldn't piss of the porch no more, dogs had to chained/fenced, no smell of freshly turned dirt.  So, I decided I'd wouldn't be city slicker.  I commuted back and forth to Houston during my young adult years wearing out trucks and cars, living in places like Glen Flora,  East Bernard, Danbury.  I used those commutes to think, problem solve, make notes/points I didn't want to forget, and most importantly "wind down" so that I wasn't a raving lunatic when I got home to the family.  I gave my kids a touch of country living with a splash of city convenience.  Wouldn't change any of it.  The youngest will graduate this year from HS.  Hallelujah!  There are 3 places on the radar to finally drop anchor.  Panama, Zapata county, or Calhoun Arkansas.  Most likely it will be Zap Co since we already have land there.  Small town living will soon be in the rear view and I'll be pissing off the porch watching the dog run free.

I congratulate you, my man MaybeACoordinator, welcome to the country.  I know there is at least one Surly bastage living not far ya' down in Sargent.  Braz Co is better now that you're there and I've left.  Remember mosquitoes are a good thing.  They keep the pilgrims living in places like Houston and Dallas.    Peace out.

[Guest]

36 minutes ago, BradInATX said:

3 hours ago, slorch said:

so you hate people...AND rain.
 
I agree with your point though.  Some of the 'rural' in this thread just means 'not surrounded by concrete.' It's not what some of us consider living in the country.

You don't have to live in the middle of nowhere to be rural.

Some of the places described in this thread are not rural.  They’re just not inside the Loop in H-town or just off LBJ in Dallas.

There is some middle ground, for sure.

 

Edited February 9, 2021 by slorch

[BradInATX 9208]

33 minutes ago, Bevo&Pevo said:

Couldn't piss of the porch no more,

This guy has his priorities figured out. 

[CHIEF 5095]

14 minutes ago, BradInATX said:

This guy has his priorities figured out. 

Exactly, when I lived in Austin early on, my parents still had the 420 acre ranch that I grew up on. The first thing I would always do when I got out of the car was piss in the front yard. Not having to aim for a toilet is very liberating. Slorch is right though about hating people, I'm pretty antisocial when I want to be. No rain just comes with the territory. I curse the day they invented cell phones.

CHIEF

[Jiggy-Z 3435]

Moved out to Circle Drive area in Austin back in 1998. 6 acres but it felt like 50.  Back then I would have described the area as rural, but I knew it would not last forever.

It was the perfect blend of rural with some convenience as there was a convenience store and gas station about a mile away and the Y in Oak hill was only 3 miles down the road.

There was a subdivision that had been developed back in the 60's that is close by but there were large lots and it never got built out completely.

There was a mix of large ranches and some larger homesteads in the 10 acre range butted up to the Circle drive, which btw used to be old US 290.

There was some crazy rural shit going on back then.  Lots of hunting on an old quarry close by.  Crazy neighbors who ran cock fights, dog fights, meth labs, and some prostitution.  Tons of wildlife including foxes, porcupines, hawks, owls, and bats along with the other usual rural critters.

Over the years, we got an apartment complex at the old quarry, a big fire station, three new fancy subdivisions close by,  a huge PEC yard and office, commercial warehouse space, a wedding venue, expansion of the gas station into a beer garden, expansion of the Montessori school, a water tower, and a left turn lane, not to mention all the stuff I have left out.

I can't see any of the development from my home but I did have to put in a fence when we  had kids to keep the still roaming pit bulls from our neighbors fighting stock from mauling my family. The fence was a nice addition as it also kept out the Jehovahs and fly by night asphalt contractors. 

We have a huge garden, goats, a nice 1/2 mile trail, a big area in the back for fires, and I still piss freely.

My folks live on a 400 acre ranch in south Texas, but I don't think I could do that with their set up.  They have highway frontage along with county road frontage that has a lot of oil and gas traffic.  That too is becoming less rural as San Antonio has expanded.

 

 

[fattyflattie 4638]

2 hours ago, slorch said:

Some of the places described in this thread are not rural.  They’re just not inside the Loop in H-town or just off LBJ in Dallas.

There is some middle ground, for sure.

 

I think everyone understands that but you can only live so many hours from town if you still need to make a living.  My example, for example, is an hour from downtown without any traffic and that’s where it starts to taper off.  10 years ago you were 15 miles outside of town, now you are 5. But yeah, I’m certain there’s loads of people on the board who’d love to have 1000 acres and not have to go to the office everyday.  

[BradInATX 9208]

16 minutes ago, Jiggy-Z said:

Moved out to Circle Drive area in Austin back in 1998. 6 acres but it felt like 50.  Back then I would have described the area as rural, but I knew it would not last forever.

It was the perfect blend of rural with some convenience as there was a convenience store and gas station about a mile away and the Y in Oak hill was only 3 miles down the road.

There was a subdivision that had been developed back in the 60's that is close by but there were large lots and it never got built out completely.

There was a mix of large ranches and some larger homesteads in the 10 acre range butted up to the Circle drive, which btw used to be old US 290.

There was some crazy rural shit going on back then.  Lots of hunting on an old quarry close by.  Crazy neighbors who ran cock fights, dog fights, meth labs, and some prostitution.  Tons of wildlife including foxes, porcupines, hawks, owls, and bats along with the other usual rural critters.

Over the years, we got an apartment complex at the old quarry, a big fire station, three new fancy subdivisions close by,  a huge PEC yard and office, commercial warehouse space, a wedding venue, expansion of the gas station into a beer garden, expansion of the Montessori school, a water tower, and a left turn lane, not to mention all the stuff I have left out.

I can't see any of the development from my home but I did have to put in a fence when we  had kids to keep the still roaming pit bulls from our neighbors fighting stock from mauling my family. The fence was a nice addition as it also kept out the Jehovahs and fly by night asphalt contractors. 

We have a huge garden, goats, a nice 1/2 mile trail, a big area in the back for fires, and I still piss freely.

My folks live on a 400 acre ranch in south Texas, but I don't think I could do that with their set up.  They have highway frontage along with county road frontage that has a lot of oil and gas traffic.  That too is becoming less rural as San Antonio has expanded.

 

 

 

That Circle drive area is bad ass. One of my good friends from high school grew up off of Circle drive on a bunch of acres with horses and a pool and a guest house. Now those apartments look right down onto their pool. Kind of a bummer. They've gotten some ridiculous, life changing offers on their property but they are old hippies and don't care. 

I forget the name but there's that ultra dive bar right down the road where they don't even have a liquor license but will sell you a setup. Is that still there? I got very drunk there more times than I'm comfortable admitting.

[Jiggy-Z 3435]

10 minutes ago, BradInATX said:

 

That Circle drive area is bad ass. One of my good friends from high school grew up off of Circle drive on a bunch of acres with horses and a pool and a guest house. Now those apartments look right down onto their pool. Kind of a bummer. They've gotten some ridiculous, life changing offers on their property but they are old hippies and don't care. 

I forget the name but there's that ultra dive bar right down the road where they don't even have a liquor license but will sell you a setup. Is that still there? I got very drunk there more times than I'm comfortable admitting.

The building is still there but no operational bar is working.

I went to that place (Circleville Inn) about 20 years ago when it was just as you said, except they had a licence and I bought booze there.  They closed down and there was another owner who put a little money into the place and changed the exterior color scheme from blue and white to orange/red but they did not have a licence. Yeah, i was usually drunk when I got there, but figured I could walk home in a pinch.  From talking to the locals over the years, that used to be a really rough place.

An old white guy parks his taco trailer in their parking lot and sells a pretty mean brisket taco.

If you keep heading down Circle and make you way to the Austin zoo area there are a couple of dead ends that lead onto UT property and COA property.  They are monitored by camera now, but my wife and I used run down there and hop the fences back in the day.  Barton creek is back there and on the other side of the creek is Spanish Oaks. 

[WBT 20669]

11 hours ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

I hear you. It annoys me that I can hear Hwy 35 about two miles away. Main racket at night time are the owls -- barred owls cackle like demon monkeys. They come by nightly. I've recorded them and I play them back at themselves on a big bluetooth speaker and it freaks them out. I make sure I am inside, though; they will open your head up like a watermelon if you let them.

 

Who cooks for you?

Cool recording, I see and hear them occasionally in my backyard but nothing like that.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11821]

47 minutes ago, Jiggy-Z said:

The building is still there but no operational bar is working.

I went to that place (Circleville Inn) about 20 years ago when it was just as you said, except they had a licence and I bought booze there.  They closed down and there was another owner who put a little money into the place and changed the exterior color scheme from blue and white to orange/red but they did not have a licence. Yeah, i was usually drunk when I got there, but figured I could walk home in a pinch.  From talking to the locals over the years, that used to be a really rough place.

An old white guy parks his taco trailer in their parking lot and sells a pretty mean brisket taco.

If you keep heading down Circle and make you way to the Austin zoo area there are a couple of dead ends that lead onto UT property and COA property.  They are monitored by camera now, but my wife and I used run down there and hop the fences back in the day.  Barton creek is back there and on the other side of the creek is Spanish Oaks. 

I probably bumped into you back then and didn't know it.  I lived off Circle Dr. around 1993-1994 timeframe.   Used to go up to Buddy's to get a gallon of milk and a newspaper frequently.

Edited February 9, 2021 by Judge Roybeanbag

[Judge Roybeanbag 11821]

3 hours ago, Bevo&Pevo said:

When I was kid our nearest neighbor was roughly 3/4 of mile from our place.  I missed out on some stuff growing up like Little League and hanging around a community pool waiting for Wendy Peffercorn to do CPR on me.  However, I had all the dirt clods I could hit and rice water pumping stations to swim in.  As a kid I really wanted to live in a town some where because I thought I was missing out on something.  Then I moved to the Holy Land, the 40 acres, the big A.  It wasn't long and I realized city living wasn't for me.  Couldn't piss of the porch no more, dogs had to chained/fenced, no smell of freshly turned dirt.  So, I decided I'd wouldn't be city slicker.  I commuted back and forth to Houston during my young adult years wearing out trucks and cars, living in places like Glen Flora,  East Bernard, Danbury.  I used those commutes to think, problem solve, make notes/points I didn't want to forget, and most importantly "wind down" so that I wasn't a raving lunatic when I got home to the family.  I gave my kids a touch of country living with a splash of city convenience.  Wouldn't change any of it.  The youngest will graduate this year from HS.  Hallelujah!  There are 3 places on the radar to finally drop anchor.  Panama, Zapata county, or Calhoun Arkansas.  Most likely it will be Zap Co since we already have land there.  Small town living will soon be in the rear view and I'll be pissing off the porch watching the dog run free.

I congratulate you, my man MaybeACoordinator, welcome to the country.  I know there is at least one Surly bastage living not far ya' down in Sargent.  Braz Co is better now that you're there and I've left.  Remember mosquitoes are a good thing.  They keep the pilgrims living in places like Houston and Dallas.    Peace out.

Tejas60 lives close to Sargent.  And B&P, I still fish a few times a year on the remains of your grandparents bait camp down at Oyster Lake.  I grew up in Garwood, on the bank of the Colorado.  Back then nobody really gave a shit if you wandered over their property, as long as you didn't trash things.  Which I did a few times, I'm ashamed to admit, but we had free reign over a ton of land and water.   Same scenario, I moved to Austin, went to school, lived in apartments for 10 years or so and decided fuck that.  So I went and bought as much as I could out off Fitzhugh Rd between Hamilton Pool and Dripping Springs.  Back then it was $2K per acre.   Fortunately my wife has more sense than me, so we bought in a development with a minimum 20 acre lot size.  

[immortal13 4059]

What do you mean by "trash" things?

[Judge Roybeanbag 11821]

3 minutes ago, immortal13 said:

What do you mean by "trash" things?

Well, the specific thing I was thinking of was this one old guy had a bunch of junked vehicles on his place, that he swore someday he was going to do something with.  He never did, but the fact that my brother and I shot at them with .22s  playing Bonnie and Clyde didn't help.  Meaning I didn't have respect for other people's property at that age.  Also I hit golf balls across the river at a fellows herd of cows a time or two, because I liked to see them run.

[Herbie Hancock 7376]

When I think rural I think of my grandparents owning one of the only two grocery stores in all of Haskell county, and both of which were IGA’s. If you have the opportunity to stop at a grocery store during your normal daily routine, you’re probably not rural.

[BradInATX 9208]

Back then it was $2K per acre.   Fortunately my wife has more sense than me, so we bought in a development with a minimum 20 acre lot size.  

Got damn. Your land alone makes you surly 1%. What a score.

[baboso 6057]

14 hours ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

I hear you. It annoys me that I can hear Hwy 35 about two miles away. Main racket at night time are the owls -- barred owls cackle like demon monkeys. They come by nightly. I've recorded them and I play them back at themselves on a big bluetooth speaker and it freaks them out. I make sure I am inside, though; they will open your head up like a watermelon if you let them.

 

 

[BabaYaga 15320]

51 minutes ago, Herbie Hancock said:

When I think rural I think of my grandparents owning one of the only two grocery stores in all of Haskell county, and both of which were IGA’s. If you have the opportunity to stop at a grocery store during your normal daily routine, you’re probably not rural.

Yep.  There's rural, and there's 'country'.  Big god damn difference.  My pops?  Graduating class of 15 kids in HS.  G-parents stayed out near Coleman until they passed. 

Rural is raising animals because your small school has a 4-H program.  Country is later eating them.  Country is being a dumb ass kid, running into a barbed wire fence, and having your g-father just sew it shut because "the hospital was too far and it' not too bad"  Still have the scar on my palm.  

Rural is having land.  Country is your livelihood comes from it.  We're in the 'burbs of N. Texas.  Work and competitive sports dictate it.  We have the ranch in W. Texas and breaking ground on our second cabin in Broken Bow that we can get away to if needed.  Retirement can bring us to a house on a few dozen acres, but until then we augured in until the kids leave for college.  

Edited February 9, 2021 by BabaYaga

[CHIEF 5095]

3 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

Yep.  There's rural, and there's 'country'.  Big god damn difference.  My pops?  Graduating class of 15 kids in HS.  G-parents stayed out near Coleman until they passed. 

Rural is raising animals because your small school has a 4-H program.  Country is being a dumb ass kid, running into a barbed wire fence, and having your g-father just sew it shut because "the hospital was too far and it' not too bad"  Still have the scar on my palm.  

Rural is having land.  Country is your livelihood comes from it.  We're in the 'burbs of N. Texas.  Work and competitive sports dictate it.  We have the ranch in W. Texas and breaking ground on our second cabin in Broken Bow that we can get away to if needed.  Retirement can bring us to a house on a few dozen acres, but until then we augured in until the kids leave for college.  

I graduated with a class of 10. I was Salutatorian, and wasn't even top 10% of my class. The Valedictorian never took a harder math class than Algebra I. So today, he would be an auto-admission to UT. Unfortunate for me I would not.

CHIEF

[atomheartbevo 89792]

17 hours ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

deep in the sticks of southwestern Brazoria County

Rural Brazoria County you say?

Which one of us are you going to eventually ask to take you out back behind the barn and put you out of your misery?

 

[BabaYaga 15320]

1 minute ago, CHIEF said:

I graduated with a class of 10. I was Salutatorian, and wasn't even top 10% of my class. The Valedictorian never took a harder math class than Algebra I. So today, he would be an auto-admission to UT. Unfortunate for me I would not.

CHIEF

He was Valedictorian, had an aunt in Austin that had just moved from Lubbock, thus Texas vs. Tech as his mother demanded family keep an eye on his wild ass.  He was so scared to be in the "big city" he studied all the time and made it through.  Little healthy humility & fear is never a bad thing.  

We spent most of the summers and most holidays there, so I never felt "disconnected".  I could live in the middle of the city, but have a place to escape to whenever it was (and still is) needed.  Wanting to go this weekend, but with my luck, Ranger Hill will ice over and we'll get stuck.