1st: North Carolina Barn-Living Notebook …[ About My Temporary Living Condition ] Poem by Bri Edwards

Near two weeks it took to drive 3000 miles..
to stay in a barn with sheep, hens, & goats, NO smiles.
In the Appalachian ‘hills' of Marshall North Carolina ….
we're settled, ….on the opposite side of Earth from China.

About a week here, most hours spent in barn (converted) ,
‘twould seem at quick glance the hills are near-deserted,
as I think they've ‘always' been.There are no buildings TALL.
I've found pros & cons to now tell ya'll.

Most notably, and believe me this is surely a ‘con',
our composting toilet reminds me of a stinking pond.
Not meant for ‘two', it has some ‘maintenance' needs.
I'm about to go outdoors & poop in the weeds.

BUT that would be unfair to the two squat goats,
as I'm told they eat the weeds, not corn nor oats.
They also eat our kitchen fruit and veggie wastes,
while the plump-looking hens eat the egg shells post haste.

The bucolic scenes around ‘our' barn are some pros,
with hillside pasture, and tall trees through which wind blows.
Our rooms are finished & furnished with but minor glitches.
There may be barn ghosts, but no coven of witches.

Some rain has leaked, dripping through the old barn roof,
but our living quarters and we have been dry, ...PROOF …
that Carolina luck is with our stay, at least so far.
If "luck" changes, we hopefully can escape by car.

The driveway's cut uphill, a quarter mile through trees,
and I ‘pray' we never get hit or blocked by fallen ‘debris'.
There's evidence of smoke alarms where none now exists,
but if smoke chokes life from us, we'll not resist.


(cont.) ...?


(early January....2019)


Addendum, requested by my mate:

....................................


Tick Bite Poem....[ Beware The Arachnids Who Seek To Suck Your Blood, Their Faces Buried In Your Flesh! ; Tick Bite Treatment; North Carolina Hiking ]



Ticks are tiny, 'Almost-Harmless'-looking insect-like creatures.
With a magnifying glass I've seen their very tiny features.
I've had them on my body twice(?) , many years ago indeed.
[They may crawl onto you or your clothes from tree or weed.]
One I found in a private place, while I sat, before I peed.

Our hosts in N. Carolina assured us no ticks would be moving..
around this winter.My recent tick 'bite'went far towards proving...
….them wrong! ! !

I picked up branches on a warm day to use as hiking sticks.
At no time did I wonder if I'd also be picking up some tiny ticks! !

That night, in bed, I felt a tiny, sore bump near my left axilla.
In the morning I found a tick about the size of a small gorilla,
(near my left shoulder)with its face dug into my tender flesh.
I drove to a nearby town's 'Urgent Care' center, feeling fresh,
….but concerned lest the little beast deposit microbes of disease.
A nurse practitioner pulled tick off in 2 pieces, putting me at ease.

After antibacterial ointment & bandage were applied, I did drive..
…..to a pharmacy for two antibiotic pills, costing well less than 5...
dollars (US) .

I read drug precautions (not quite clear): ambiguity I somewhat hate.
Then I questioned the pharmacist before I took pills,1 hr. before I ate,

People may get upset stomachs with pills when taken with no ‘milk or food',
but instructions ALSO SAID ‘food can slow absorption of this drug'.How rude!


(February...22nd....2019)